3000 Best Albums [2125] Art Blakey - A Night at Birdland Vol. 2 (1954) Dan's Mini Album Review

[@Foul_Quince]

If there's a golden era of jazz, it would be the "hard bop" era of 1950-1960 (ish). Be-Bop, it's forbear, came about at the end of WWII when a bunch of young musicians who had gravitated to New York in the late 30's and 1940's got tired of playing for guys they called "Mouldy Figs", largely guys who used to run big bands that were no longer profitable because of the depression and then wartime economy couldn't play because it was so radical and so technically daunting they wouldn't be able to understand it. They did this largely in backrooms and after hours sessions because, as it was music for listening to, not dancing, they couldn't find any venues to play (plus they were all contracted to Mouldy figs' bands). It wasn't until the recording ban was lifted, in early 1944, that they started to pop up on record with guys like Coleman Hawkins and Billy Eckstein and eventually, by 1946 with Dizzy Gillespie and The Charlie parker All-Stars went above ground. My recent video "The Atomic Age" covers this. Hard Bop was a reduction of Be-Bop as it added simpler R&B based rhythms to the music - it broadened the appeal of the music considerably, got bigger and big record labels interested and allowed players, particularly the tenor men, to employ a more direct "Blowing" style, into their playing - hence the rise of guys like Illinois Jaquet, Hank Mobley, Stanley Turrentine and John Coltrane.

[@dansminialbumreviews]

Thanks for all of that excellent extra info.

[@Williamottelucas]

"Hot jazz, cool jazz, and when does the tune start jazz?" sounds like a ways and a means of getting to understand the genre. Multi-choice music for the masses!

[@dansminialbumreviews]

I think after doing the reviews so far I might suggest a fourth category: bonkers noise.