Swing to Bop : An Oral History of the Transition in Jazz in the 1940s

Swing to Bop This indispensable book brings us face to face with some of the most memorable figures in jazz history and charts the rise and development of bop in the late 1930s and '40s. Ira Gitler interviewed more than 50 leading jazz figures, over a 10-year period, to preserve for posterity their recollections of the transition in jazz from the big band era to the modern jazz period. The musicians interviewe... Full description

this Book Willserve As The Basic Work On The Rise And Development Of Bop In Jazz. Engendered By Charlie Parker And Dizzy Gillespie, Bebop, Now Known As Bop, Quickly Became The Most Powerful Musical Force In Modern Jazz. Today It Is Still The Main Musical Language Of Jazz Musicians. Over A Ten-year Period, Ira Gitler Interviewed More Than 50 Of The Seminal Figures In Jazz History To Preserve For Posterity Their Recollections Of How Jazz Moved From The Big Band Era In The Late '30s And '40s Into The Modern Jazz Period. The Musicians Interviewed Recreate Not Only Their Own Experiences But Also Evoke The Legendary Figures Of Bop Who Where So Influential In Its Development But Were Never Recorded, People Like Clyde Hart And Freddie Webster.
Swing To Bop Shows How The Music First Established Itself In Jam Sessions In Harlem And Then Spread To New York's Famed 52nd Street And Beyond. Separate Chapters Describe How Young Musicians In Major Cities Such As Los Angeles, Chicago And Detroit Became Swept Up In The Movement. Along With The Music And The Personalities Who Made It, The Book Vividly Recreates The Atmosphere Of The Country In The '30s And '40s: Traveling On The Ballroom Theather Curcuit; Racial Attitudes And Interaction; Extra-musical Pastimes; The Relationship To World War Ii; And The Influence Of Drugs. Thus Swing To Bop Reveals Not Only How The Music Evolved But The Environment In Which It Flourished And What Effect In Turn The Music Had On That Environment And The Music To Follow.

about The Author

ira Gitler Is The Author Of Jazz Masters Of The '40s And The Encyclopedia Of Jazz In The Seventies. He Was Previously Professor Of Jazz History At City College Of New York And Associate Editor Of Downbeat.

Annotation This impressive work brings readers face-to-face with some of the most memorable figures in jazz history and charts the rise and development of bop in the late 1930s and '40s. Ira Gitler interviewed more than 50 leading jazz figures over a 10-year period to preserve for posterity their recollections of the transition in jazz from the big band era to the modern jazz period. The musicians interviewed, including both the acclaimed and the unrecorded, tell in their own words how this renegade music emerged, why it was a turning point in American jazz, and how it influenced their own lives and work. Placing jazz in a historical context, Gitler expertly demonstrates how the mood of the nation in its post-Depression years, racial attitudes of the time, and World War II combined to shape the jazz of today This indispensable book brings us face to face with some of the most memorable figures in jazz history and charts the rise and development of bop in the late 1930s and '40s. Ira Gitler interviewed more than 50 leading jazz figures, over a 10-year period, to preserve for posterity their recollections of the transition in jazz from the big band era to the modern jazz period. The musicians interviewed, including both the acclaimed and the unrecorded, tell in their own words how this renegade music emerged, why it was a turning point in American jazz, and how it influenced their own lives and work. Placing jazz in historical context, Gitler demonstrates how the mood of the nation in its post-Depression years, racial attitudes of the time, and World War II combined to shape the jazz of today. This volume chronicles the emergence of modern jazz from the Big Band era of the late 1930s and 1940s. Based on interviews with over 50 seminal figures in what was originally known as "bebop," Gitler traces how the music first established itself in jam sessions in Harlem and then spread to New York's 52nd Street. He describes how young musicians in major cities such as Los Angeles, Chicago, and Detroit were swept up in the movement, and how the music and the environment in which it flourished affected each other. Gitler allows the creators of bop to speak for themselves, recalling the world and times in which they made the music. He has reproduced the interviews here with accuracy, right down to jazz vernacular. ISBN 0-19-50388-6 : $22.50 Interviews with more than fifty of the seminal figures in jazz history recall how jazz moved from the big band era into the modern jazz period In the period from the early '30s to the war years, the big bands were king and inspired the same adulation that rock bands enjoy today.