I'm very late to this thread, but it's hard not to post my .02 after reading above statements like:
"I agree that bebop ruined jazz, suddenly there was a style that damn few were qualified to play competently!"
"Bebop ruined jazz"
Give me a break. So, a professional player should not push the established boundaries of harmony in addition to striving to become the ultimate musician?
Can one imagine Beethoven saying to himself, oh I better not write Symphony No. 5 as it would be too groundbreaking and dissonant for what the acceptable norm is.
Not desiring to sound trite, when I read statements like the above two from previous posts it reveals a certain ignorance perpetuated by decades of american jazz listeners.
Players like Gillespie, Parker, Monk, Gordon, were so instrumental in pushing the boundaries of the established harmonic and rhythmic norms of the day. These cats were trailblazers, riding into an infinitesimal space of harmony and time, disregarding the use of the same old scales that shackled musicians that came before them. In many respects Bebop created its own scales!
Say you don't care for bebop, you don't understand bebop, you don't understand jazz harmony, or even say you prefer Kenny G, but don't say Bebop caused jazz to make a wrong turn without further qualifying a statement like that because you come off sounding illiterate and ignorant of both jazz, or at minimum you lack a basic understanding and knowledge of music harmony, and least of all a typical ignorant american listener who has extremely limited knowledge of its only true native artform - Jazz. Bebop was extremely instrumental in the evolution of both the music and generations of players that followed. To not acknowledge bebop's contribution to jazz harmony is typical american listener ignorance. Beboppers blazed a harmonic trail that allowed the music to evolve to greater heights than it would have otherwise. The integrity, and harmonic structure of Bebop scales pushed the boundaries of the music and left a mark on the music in such a short time unlike no other music ever has...imho.
Play a polychord on a piano by simultaneously playing two scales vertically, one on top of the other, and you'll gain a better sense and appreciation of what these trailblazers were doing on their instruments that was so difficult for the average instrumentalist to come to terms with. And that's only a beginning of what they were actually creating on their instruments. These guys were nothing short of brilliant musicians. They deserve to be acknowledged for their unique artistry.
KOB, as one poster finally pointed out, was a groundbreaking recording because of its exploration of modal harmony. Other artists had been exploring this harmony before Miles decided upon this format for KOB. But KOB's success could be exclusively attributed to the wide use of modal harmony and perhaps the influence and impact modal harmony has upon the ear of the listener. Cannonball Adderly is a complete, lest I say it, bebop player, but stylistically he's tamer on the ears than many that came before him. And even using basic modal forms and scales these technically gifted musicians collectively came together and turned something basic into something brilliant that has withstood the test of time. There aren't alot of albums one can listen to that if you didn't know any better they'd thought it was recorded today. KOB is timeless in that regard...as are many others.
Heck, I couldn't imagine life without Dexter Gordon, another bona fide and complete bebop player.
KOB is one of my all time favs...to label anything 'the best' is futile as likes and dislikes vary widely. But it's unequivically the all time 'best' selling jazz album, there's no argument in that. Geez, between digital rereleases and albums I own more copies of KOB than any other album. It's certainly one I can put on and allow the repeat to play over and again without fatigue.
My apologies for sounding harsh in my remarks, but as a hobbyist musician nothing gets my dander up more than listening to ignorance on behalf of an ill informed uneducated public when it comes to jazz in general. Is there little wonder Japan and Europe have supported Jazz for decades but the american listener by and large is completely absent. What's that say about the intelligence of the average listener in this society? But that's a whole 'nother pandora's box, so I leave that one alone.
Enjoy!
