San Diego's Jazz 88.3

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Bebop 1945-1950: Dizzy Meets Bird

February 2, 2021- Today's Bebop Era Topic: Dizzy Meets Bird

During the swing era several artists emerged who expanded the melodic, harmonic and rhythmic approaches to improvisation as soloists.  This included Lester Young, Coleman Hawkins, Jimmy Blanton, Charlie Christian, Roy Eldridge and Art Tatum.  Their collective innovations had a major impact on the next generation of jazz musicians.

Three of these young players absorbed those innovations and created an entirely new style of jazz.

Dizzy Gillespie, Kenny Clarke and Charlie Parker.

John Birks Gillespie, was born in South Carolina in 1917 and took up music at an early age.  By four he was playing the piano and eventually added the trombone and trumpet.  Hearing Roy Eldridge on the radio in 1930 convinced him to pursue a career in music.  In 1935 the family re-located to Philadelphia where he began working professionally with Frankie Fairfax.  In 1937 he  moved to New York and played with the band of Teddy Hill and a short stint with Edgar Hayes.  He returned to the Teddy Hill band and began working closely with the band’s drummer Kenny Clarke.

Both Gillespie and Clarke began experimenting with new ideas.  Dizzy was extremely interested in harmony and spent many hours working on the keyboard discovering different ways to voice chords.  He began applying those experiments to the trumpet much to the dismay of Teddy Hill. 

Dizzy played with a different rhythmic feel which Kenny Clarke picked up on and adapted to his own playing.  This led to his groundbreaking drum style which deviated greatly from his swing era forebears.  Teddy Hill and the other musicians didn’t like it accusing them of “breaking up the time”.   Dizzy was eventually fired and ended up joining Cab Calloway in 1939.

Dizzy wasn’t deterred and knew there was a different way to approach improvisation and he was determined to figure it out.

Meanwhile, in Kansas City the young alto saxophonist Charlie Parker was searching for a new approach as well.  They didn’t cross paths at that time but were working towards the same thing simultaneously. 

Charlie Parker was a product of the Kansas City nightlife scene where he grew up.  He was born in 1920 and was already trying to sit in on major jam sessions while still just learning to play.  His idol at the time was Lester Young who was playing with Count Basie at the Reno Club.   Lester’s unique time and phrasing, as well as his melodic approach was a major influence on the young Charlie Parker.  At one of the jam sessions, where he was in way over his head, he was laughed off the stage and humiliated.  He vowed to do whatever it took to come back and redeem himself.

During a summer job in the Missouri Ozarks he practiced endlessly and mastered the alto saxophone.  When he returned to Kansas City after that summer he was a completely different musician.  The things he had in his head that he couldn’t execute before were now executed with ease.  All of the local musicians were mystified as to how he could master things so quickly.
Now that the physical limitations of the horn were lifted the only thing left was to figure out the different harmonic ideas he could hear in his head.

At that point Buster Smith became his primary musical mentor.  Smith was a forward looking alto player and Charlie Parker followed him everywhere.  In 1938 Buster moved to New York and Parker followed.  During that period in New York he heard Art Tatum frequently.  Tatum’s virtuosity at the piano was another major influence to Parker’s developing sound and style.  In 1939 at a late night jam session it all came together for him.   He had the revelation of how to extend the harmony which was the final piece of the puzzle.  

In 1940, the Calloway band was playing a job in Kansas City.  Buddy Anderson, a forward looking trumpet player himself and a member of the Jay McShann Band heard what Dizzy was trying to do and suggested he should meet local alto saxophonist Charlie Parker.   Buddy brought the two together at the Musician’ Union building where Dizzy played piano while Parker played alto.

Dizzy realized that everything he had been searching for, Charlie Parker had already figured it out.    It was a monumental meeting of genius minds that would eventually change jazz forever.

Bebop 1945-1950: What is Bebop?

February 1, 2021- Today's Bebop Era Topic: What is Bebop?

Bebop, also referred to as “modern jazz” was a musical development that burst upon the jazz scene in the mid nineteen forties. It was a musical revolution that created a new vocabulary for jazz. All three elements of music; melody, harmony and rhythm changed dramatically with the advent of bebop.  The approach to improvisation changed dramatically as well.

As for melody, bebop musicians didn’t use a lot of pre-existing melodies.   They created new, often complex and angular melodic lines over the harmonic structure of a variety of popular songs.  This included songs like How High the Moon, I Got Rhythm, Cherokee and the 12 bar blues among others.

Harmony changed dramatically as well.  Even though the utilization of familiar harmonic structures were the basis of most bebop songs, those harmonies were altered and extended in ways that had never been done before.  This gave the jazz soloists a whole new universe of creative possibilities.

Rhythm changed drastically compared to their swing era predecessors.  During the swing era drummers kept a steady swing feel with the snare, bass drum and hi-hat cymbal.   Bebop drummers invented a new style that kept the primary time on the ride cymbal and used the snare and bass drum for accents.  This rhythmic feel created a looser more complex asymmetrical approach with heavy accents known as “dropping bombs.”

Improvisation adapted to this new vocabulary with jagged melodic lines, unusual intervals between notes and unprecedented displays of instrumental virtuosity.
The pioneer bebop musicians gained a total mastery of their instrument along with a strong understanding of harmony and rhythm.

KSDS Celebrates Black History Month 2021

Blog Name:Home Page News

Blog Author:San Diego's Jazz 88.3

Posted on:January 29, 2021

February is Black History Month and KSDS-FM is celebrating by shining a light on The Bebop Era, 1945 to 1950. Join us every weekday to hear special audio vignettes that focuses on Bebop's notable legends and venues. If you contribute $100 or more at any point in February you will receive a special KSDS custom CD- "Live from the Royal Roost" sometimes referred to as The Metropolitan BOPera house. It features those aforementioned artists in rare broadcasts from 1948 and 1949. You can CLICK HERE TO MAKE YOUR DONATION.
 

San Diego Theatre- 2020

Blog Name:Home Page News

Blog Author:San Diego's Jazz 88.3

Posted on:December 30, 2020

A Big Band New Years Eve Celebration-2020!

Blog Name:Home Page News

Blog Author:San Diego's Jazz 88.3

Posted on:December 28, 2020

KSDS/Jazz88.3 is kissing 2020 good-bye and ringing in the new year with the sounds of swingin' Big Bands! It's happening right now- "Big Bands Coast to Coast and Around the World!" It will be approximately 30 hours of classic Big Band music from greats like Dizzy, Basie and Ellington. You will also hear from Rob McConnell, Terry Gibbs, Gil Evans and so many more. While you are listening we hope you can make that last tax-deductible donation(s) to KSDS and make it count for 2020! DONATE NOW and become a first-time member, renew your membership, make an additional gift or make a donation in memory of a loved one. Many Thanks and Happy New Year!

Looking Forward to 2021 and Beyond!

Blog Name:Home Page News

Blog Author:San Diego's Jazz 88.3

Posted on:December 19, 2020

All the staff and hosts at KSDS want to thank so much for sticking with us this year. Your e-mails, phone messages and, of course, support has really lifted us up during these crazy times.We hope to see you in the new year and get back to some normalcy. We can't wait till we start having Jazz Live concerts again. We will let you know when that is possible. Speaking of which, if you have been a faithful attendee of our Jaz Live concert series or if you have never been we encourage you to look at these terrific JAZZ LIVE PHOTOS, taken by Larry Redman. He volunteers his talent and time and has become a true friend of the station. Thank you Larry and again, thank you for your support! Cheers to a better, and safer, New Year. Happy Holidays!

A Big Band New Years Eve Celebration-2021!

Blog Name:Home Page News

Blog Author:San Diego's Jazz 88.3

Posted on:December 10, 2020

KSDS/Jazz88.3 is kissing 2021 good-bye and ringing in the new year with the sounds of swingin' Big Bands! It's happening right now- "Big Bands Coast to Coast and Around the World!" It will be approximately 30 hours of classic Big Band music from greats like Dizzy, Basie and Ellington. You will also hear from Rob McConnell, Terry Gibbs, Gil Evans and so many more. While you are listening we hope you can make that last tax-deductible donation(s) to KSDS and make it count for 2021! DONATE NOW and become a first-time member, renew your membership, make an additional gift or make a donation in memory of a loved one. Many Thanks and Happy New Year!

Sounds of the Season-2020!

Blog Name:Home Page News

Blog Author:San Diego's Jazz 88.3

Posted on:November 29, 2020

Happy Holidays! KSDS is now airing its annual 'Sounds of the Season' programming. This 36-hour block of holiday music (ending at Midnight on Christmas Day) is brought to you by KSDS and our good friends at California Coast Credit Union. Special thanks to Ken Borgers and David Grudt. CLICK HERE FOR THE PLAYLIST!

Camarada- Unstoppable Season 2020-21

Blog Name:Home Page News

Blog Author:San Diego's Jazz 88.3

Posted on:October 26, 2020

Camarada is announcing its 26th season for 2020/21 and they are calling it "Unstoppable." The next performance, called "Unstoppable," happens Sunday, March 28th at 6PM (In-Person at Bread & Salt) and on Friday, April 9th (LiveStream at 7PM) . The concert will have limited in-person concert attendance as well as LiveStream programming. Here is Camarada's link for more information on the concert line-up, in-person ticket information and LiveStream options.

Mainly Mozart- Charles Mcpherson Concert

Blog Name:Home Page News

Blog Author:San Diego's Jazz 88.3

Posted on:October 9, 2020

Live jazz is back! Experience an evening with the legendary Charles McPherson and his band at a socially distanced, drive-in concert. There will be special guest appearances by members of the Mainly Mozart Festival Orchestra, the largest gathering of concertmasters and principal players in North America. The concert is Sunday, October 18th at 7pm, only at the Del Mar Fairgrounds. Click here for tickets and use promo code “jazz” for 20% off at checkout! Tickets are as low as $36 per carload.