Re the ”first” bebop recording:
pjw brings up what I think is one of the most interesting footnotes in the history of jazz. Interesting first and foremost for the musical significance of it, but also because of other factors around this important event.
There is controversy and debate as to whether that 1944 recording is, in fact, the first bebop recording. The controversy stems from the fact that most of the music from those sessions cannot be clearly and definitively be indentified as “bebop”. The music contains important elements of bebop, but it many ways it still does not sound like what we normally associate with the style. Bebop, like all other jazz “sub-genres” did not appear all of a sudden like a spontaneous musical mutation; it evolved relatively slowly out of the “swing’ style of the previous two decades. Consider that the most common outlet for musicians during that time was the big band where players did not have nearly as much room for soloing and it was in jam sessions and the nfamous “cutting sessions” where players challenged each other and explored tunes with more complicated harmonies and faster tempos (the hallmarks of bebop). This is one of the cuts from that 1944 recording:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mxRfm83tyzAThat was 1944. Now here is the 1939 (!) recording by Coleman Hawkins that is generally considered to be THE groundbreaking recording that pointed the way to what would evolve into bebop. Not considered bebop per se, but the first major move in that direction. This classic recording of “Body And Soul” was revolutionary in that it was the first demonstrating a style of improvisation that was a departure from the traditional swing style of the time. Instead of simply “gliding” through the harmonies of the tune as most swing players did, Hawkins clearly and unambiguously outlines each and every chord change; a hallmark of bebop. Still, the tone is very much that of a swing player. Notice the similarity of style to the 1944 recording although the style is clearly not as developed nor as hinting of bebop:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zUFg6HvljDEThe other interesting factors around that time are related to our recent attempt at discussing how music reflects society. Music can do this in the abstract aspects of its musical message or through the circumstances around its creation. The circumstances were very interesting; two in particular.
This was 1939 or 1944 depending on which side of the argument one is on and there was a world war going on. The big bands suffered greatly as many musicians were drafted into the army and dance halls where the bands played closed. Because of this players gravitated toward smaller ensembles; another hallmark of bebop. Secondly, the American Federarion Of Musicians went on strike against all commercial record companies from 1942 to 1944 because of a dispute over royalty payments. The longest strike in history by an entertainment union meant no commercial recordings of any kind for two (!) years. The significance of this is obvious and very unfortunate. There is practically nothing that was recorded of the music during two of its most important formative years. Had players had access to recordings of players in other cities during this transformative time, who knows how much more quickly the music would have progressed to what is readily identified as bebop.
1945, only one year after the Hawkins recording. Sounds much more like what we think of as bebop:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-sttF6_NIOQ
