Of all the Bebop pianists, my favorite has to be Thelonious Monk. I love him like a fat kid loves Coca-Cola and chocolate cake. His style was so erratic yet melodic, so outside the norm... yet it worked so well in the bands he played with. Here is a sample of two of his most iconic songs, if Youtube has taken them down, shoot me a comment and I'll have that fixed.
If you listen, the more common piano playing was more like this at the time. Now these are very different, but the same time period roughly. You have two very different styles of piano playing, the Count playing behind with more of a keeping of the rhythm, and not much soloing, more keeping the tune for the horn players to come back to, and then you have Thelonious Monk whose harsh style, slamming away at the keys made such a noise that it wouldn't have worked at all in this situation.
Thelonious Monk, along with most Bebop musicians, were pushed aside and ignored because it wasn't the kind of music you could dance or snap your fingers to. Well in the Americas it was ignored, in Europe, it took on the concert form. People went to listen to music to experience it, to live it, to listen to a technical genius, not to simply hear a catchy tune with very simple notes. Also, he was a very eccentric individual. All across Youtube you can find his documentary called "Straight no Chaser" and you'll see his odd habits of mumbling, being disoriented, his walking in circles, and his temper tantrums. It is believed he was mentally ill or suffered some form of retardation, but his music was found towards the beginning of "Hard Bop" and to this day he is the most sold jazz artist to date.
Ruby My Dear; with John Coltrane in a standard 12 bar blues form
Straight No Chaser, a very technical yet exotic piece
If you listen, the more common piano playing was more like this at the time. Now these are very different, but the same time period roughly. You have two very different styles of piano playing, the Count playing behind with more of a keeping of the rhythm, and not much soloing, more keeping the tune for the horn players to come back to, and then you have Thelonious Monk whose harsh style, slamming away at the keys made such a noise that it wouldn't have worked at all in this situation.
Count Basie and his Big Band; Last end of "Dance of the Gremlins" and "Swingin' the Blues."
Thelonious Monk, along with most Bebop musicians, were pushed aside and ignored because it wasn't the kind of music you could dance or snap your fingers to. Well in the Americas it was ignored, in Europe, it took on the concert form. People went to listen to music to experience it, to live it, to listen to a technical genius, not to simply hear a catchy tune with very simple notes. Also, he was a very eccentric individual. All across Youtube you can find his documentary called "Straight no Chaser" and you'll see his odd habits of mumbling, being disoriented, his walking in circles, and his temper tantrums. It is believed he was mentally ill or suffered some form of retardation, but his music was found towards the beginning of "Hard Bop" and to this day he is the most sold jazz artist to date.
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