An informational PowerPoint presentation on the history of bebop and jazz music.

1. A History of Bebop
A presentation by Jordan Rinchiera

2. What is Bebop?
• Bebop is one of the many subgenres of jazz
music, invented in the mid-1940s.
• Characterized by its fast tempo, wild soloing,
and its complex chord changes.

3. Origins
• Jazz developed in the United States, inspired
by traditional African Music and Blues.
• The first type of music that put a great
emphasis on improvisation over chords.
• Subgenres like Ragtime, Dixieland, and Gypsy
Jazz were formed.
• Swing bands and orchestras became the
popular form of music in the 1920s and 30s;
being played in clubs for people to dance to.

4. Beginning of the Generation
• After big band shows, musicians would get
together in clubs to play and improvise over
popular standards.
• They started to experiment with the chord
changes, tempo, and their improvisation.
• Improvisation was very fast, wild, and contained
many notes, straying away from the normal style
of jazz improvisation.

5. Notable Pioneers
• Pioneers that began to experiment with this
new style of music include: Charlie Parker,
Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, Charlie
Christian, Max Roach, and many more

6. Minton’s Playhouse
• Popular jazz club where much of this
experimentation occurred.
• Located at 210 West 118th street in Harlem.
• House band consisted of Thenlonious Monk (piano),
Joe Guy (trumpet), Nick Fenton (bass), and Kenny
Clarke (drums)
• Artists like Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Christian would
often sit in on jam sessions and come up with new
musical ideas.

7. Bebop in the 1950s
• Musicians continued to explore bebop and
some even branched out to form the cool jazz
subgenre.
• Cool jazz artists included: Chet Baker, Wes
Montgomery, and Stan Getz
• Traditional bebop artists during that time
included: Clifford Brown, Miles Davis, Horace
Silver, and Art Blakey.

8. Hard Bop and Post Bop
• Popular music began to evolve in the mid 1950s
and began to lean toward Gospel, Soul, and R&B
music.
• Jazz musicians wanted to revive jazz and bebop
by including various of elements of these genres
into their music.
• Artists like Art Blakey, Horace Silver, and Miles
Davis began to write and perform music that
would appeal to a younger audience at the time.

9. Bebop and Jazz Today
• Jazz continues to develop today, and is
influenced by all typed of music.
• Styles like Afro-latin jazz, jazz fusion, smooth
jazz, and free jazz were all influenced by
bebop and developed from the 50s to the
present.
• Modern jazz is often fused with elements of
electronic, hip-hop, rock, and even heavy
metal music.

10. Attributions
• All images were obtained from www.flickr.com
and contain Creative Commons licenses;
allowing the use of these photos for
educational purposes.
• Audio: Lee Morgan. Riggarmortes. Rec. 1964.
Alfred Lion, 1981. MP3