I must not have been listening when you heard him say that and as you know context of something said is everything. However, If Phil Schaap said it then it is true ☺️....assuming we know the context. I suspect he was referring to the early 40s, the early days of bebop. “Swing” began morphing into bebop in the late 30s when players such as Prez and Hawk started developing a style that was breaking the Swing stereotypes of simple harmonies and lyricism and toward the much more complex harmonies and rhythms of bebop. Hawkins’ 1939 recording of “Body and Soul” is considered a milestone in that movement. Then, as we know, Bird blew it all wide open in the early 40s. Keep in mind that it wasn’t until 1946 that a major record label would record Bebop (Dizzy’s band). All this, of course, coincided with the demise of the big bands.
Most Swing musicians resisted and many were critical of Bebop at first (Pops: “Chinese music”), but by 1946 it was well established and, no, it wasn’t just Bird and Diz. They were the two main exponents, but there were others. Miles replaced Diz in Bird’s quintet and others such as Clifford Brown, Dexter and Rollins who by the early 50s had started pushing the music in yet another new direction.
Hard bop came later (mid 50s) as, once again, the evolutionary movement of the music; an extension of Bebop incorporating elements of r&b and gospel. Re a comment you made recently: The advent of the 12” LP record made possible the “club performance” length (extended solos) recordings that are more typical of hard bop.
So, while not knowing the context of Schaap’s comment, I think it could fairly be said that during the early transition period from Swing to Bebop as the premier Jazz style, and after hard bop was well established (this includes the present) that bebop was and is, relatively speaking, “seldom played”. Important to remember that, as we see even today, that the rise of a new style didn’t mean the total absence of the previous style. It is always a transition from the old(er) to the new with “hold outs” remaining committed to the older style and the younger and the more adventurous older players experimenting with or adopting the new. The evolution.
Glad you’re listening. I’ll be listening again today as I have for several years. Please give us a report.
Most Swing musicians resisted and many were critical of Bebop at first (Pops: “Chinese music”), but by 1946 it was well established and, no, it wasn’t just Bird and Diz. They were the two main exponents, but there were others. Miles replaced Diz in Bird’s quintet and others such as Clifford Brown, Dexter and Rollins who by the early 50s had started pushing the music in yet another new direction.
Hard bop came later (mid 50s) as, once again, the evolutionary movement of the music; an extension of Bebop incorporating elements of r&b and gospel. Re a comment you made recently: The advent of the 12” LP record made possible the “club performance” length (extended solos) recordings that are more typical of hard bop.
So, while not knowing the context of Schaap’s comment, I think it could fairly be said that during the early transition period from Swing to Bebop as the premier Jazz style, and after hard bop was well established (this includes the present) that bebop was and is, relatively speaking, “seldom played”. Important to remember that, as we see even today, that the rise of a new style didn’t mean the total absence of the previous style. It is always a transition from the old(er) to the new with “hold outs” remaining committed to the older style and the younger and the more adventurous older players experimenting with or adopting the new. The evolution.
Glad you’re listening. I’ll be listening again today as I have for several years. Please give us a report.