Bebop & Hard Bop

["Scorcher" <scorcher@xxxxxxx>]

I found this on the web regarding Bebop & Hard Bop - it seems to be (in some
ways) more descriptive than a couple of the postings I've seen here:

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(from: http://www.northwestern.edu/jazz/styles/bebop.html)

Bebop
Roughly: 1940-50
"Technically, bebop was characterized by fast tempos, complex harmonies,
intricate melodies, and rhythm sections that laid down a steady beat only on
the bass and the drummer's ride cymbal. Bebop tunes were often labyrinthine,
full of surprising twists and turns. All these factors - plus the
predominance of small combos in bebop - set the music apart from the Swing
bands of the 1930s."
- - from David H. Rosenthal's book, Hard Bop, published by Oxford Paperbacks,
New York, 1992
And coming out of bebop, with the assistance of Miles Davis, and a few other
cats, came Cool, and, following closely on its heels and borrowing the
suffix, Hard Bop.

Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Dizzie Gillespie, Thelonius Monk, Bud Powell,
Mingus, and Ray Brown were all prominent figures in Bebop.

Hard Bop
Hard Bop developed in the late 1950's as an extension of the Bebop movement.
Hard Bop is characterized by greater technical proficiency, as well as more
elaborate harmonic structures. Hard Bop was also increasingly influenced by
Soul, Gospel, and Blues music, particularly in the persons of Horace Silver
and Donald Byrd, among many others.

Some of the important figures in Hard Bop:
Nat Adderly, Art Blakey, Kenny Burrell, Dexter Gordon, Freddie Hubbard, Max
Roach, Sonny Rollins, Woody Shaw, Wayne Shorter
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As far as Harmonica Players who play either style, I cannot think of one.
There may be limitations of the instrument in this regard. (Bird's phrasing
(for instance) is just WAY too fast.....)

Smokey mentioned something cryptically that bears repeating: I think there's
an almost zen-like "hipness" to some jazz players that would preclude them
from discussing their music in terms of such "mundane labels" as Bop, Hard
Bop, etc. Those labels are for Musical Scholars or Marketing Guys.   ;-)

However, to hear somebody really blow "Bi-tonal" jazz, check out Bill
Barrett www.billbarrett.net. He's WAY out in front in terms of risk-taking,
innovative jazz (also a helluva nice guy). I think this may be as - er,
"close" as harmonicists get to bop.
My $.04 Scorcher