The birth of bebop : a social and musical history / Scott DeVeaux.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

DeVeaux, Scott Knowles.

Contributor:

American Council of Learned Societies.

Series:

ACLS Humanities E-Book.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Bop (Music)--History and criticism.

Bop (Music).

Jazz--1931-1940--History and criticism.

Jazz.

Jazz--1941-1950--History and criticism.

Music--Social aspects.

Music.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xv, 572 p. ) ill. ;

Edition:

Reprint 2019

Place of Publication:

Berkeley : University of California Press, c1997.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

The richest place in America's musical landscape is that fertile ground occupied by jazz. Scott DeVeaux takes a central chapter in the history of jazz--the birth of bebop--and shows how our contemporary ideas of this uniquely American art form flow from that pivotal moment. At the same time, he provides an extraordinary view of the United States in the decades just prior to the civil rights movement. DeVeaux begins with an examination of the Swing Era, focusing particularly on the position of African American musicians. He highlights the role played by tenor saxophonist Coleman Hawkins, a "progressive" committed to a vision in which black jazz musicians would find a place in the world commensurate with their skills. He then looks at the young musicians of the early 1940s, including Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and Thelonious Monk, and links issues within the jazz world to other developments on the American scene, including the turmoil during World War II and the pervasive racism of the period. Throughout, DeVeaux places musicians within the context of their professional world, paying close attention to the challenges of making a living as well as of making good music. He shows that bebop was simultaneously an artistic movement, an ideological statement, and a commercial phenomenon. In drawing from the rich oral histories that a living tradition provides, DeVeaux's book resonates with the narratives of individual lives. While The Birth of Bebop is a study in American cultural history and a critical musical inquiry, it is also a fitting homage to bebop and to those who made it possible.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

List of Illustrations

Acknowledgments

Introduction: Stylistic Evolution or Social Revolution?

1. Progress and the Bean

2. The Making of a Virtuoso

3. Out of Step with Swing

4. Spitballs and Tricky Riffs

5. The Jazzman's True Academy

6. Wartime Highs—and Lows

7. Showcasing the Real Stuff

8. The Rush to Record

9. Eckstine and Herman: A Contrast in Fortunes

10. Short Stay in the Sun

Epilogue: Unfinished Business

Notes

Selected Bibliography

Recordings Cited

Index

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references (p. 521-534), discographical references (p. 535-544), and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 07. Jul 2020)

ISBN:

9780520922105

0520922107

OCLC:

1163877841