DIZZY GILLESPIE'S "The Cult of Bebop"


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"The Cult of Bebop"
 
 
 

ISSUES:
 

JAZZ

CULTURE

RACE
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

HOME
 

Reading Texts
 

"The Cult of Bebop"
 
 
 

ISSUES:
 

JAZZ

CULTURE

RACE
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

HOME
 

Reading Texts
 

"The Cult of Bebop"
 
 
 

ISSUES:
 

JAZZ

CULTURE

RACE
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

HOME
 

Reading Texts
 

"The Cult of Bebop"
 
 
 

ISSUES:
 

JAZZ

CULTURE

RACE
 
 
 
 

 

   JAZZ HISTORY and Bebop

 Popular Aspects of Music

'Tomming' & Minstrelry
'American' Music

QUESTIONS


 


· ‘Tomming’ and Minstrelry

Bebop musicians, in general, did not play novelties or pander to the audience.  Racial skits had been part of the expected repertoire of African American performers in the past.


INTERPRETATIONS:

Peretti: 

    African Americans could use jazz to fight the minstrel and “coon” roles.  The younger generation of musicians, reflected a shift in African American attitudes and emotions during the second migration.  As part of this, they refused to accommodate the attitudes to commercialism and racism which were part of the older generation, such as Armstrong, and their performances.
Linking Issues

Jazz History
Race: Segregation
Race: Civil Rights
Culture: Role of Subculture
 
 

  • ‘American' music’
    • Jazz had been a controversial form of music, and seen as a moral problem during its development.  Swing signalled a degree of acceptance, which led jazz to be claimed as an ‘American’ music.  Popular players such as Louis Armstrong and Dizzy Gillespie were broadcast to Communist countries and sent overseas as goodwill ambassadors during the Cold War.  However, most jazz and Bebop players had a bad reputation.
    INTERPRETATIONS:

    DeVeaux:

    1. Challenge of commercialisation and the political realm of ethnicity have been consistent throughout American pop music industry.   African Americans were able to assert less control within the popular forms of music such as Swing.
       
    1. Historical accounts have assumed that the only genuine forms of protest by African Americans occurred outside the commercial industry.  However they were able to create new branches to increase their professional control.


    Bakara:

    The 'Americanisation' of jazz represents an appropriation of African American music and culture without compensation or acknowledgement in return.


    Linking Issues

    Jazz History
    Race: Civil Rights
    Race: Other Movements
    Culture: Role of Subculture
    QUESTIONS

    What was Dizzy's attitude to 'Tomming'?  How had his understanding of the personal attitudes of performers such as Armstrong changed over time?

    What new attitudes or awarenesses seemed important to this change?

    How did Dizzy feel about the popularisation of aspects of Bebop?  What was his main concern?  Is it possible to differentiate between the socio-economic and the ethnic factors?

    See "The Cult of Bebop"

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