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Jazz in the 1940's moved away drastically from the characteristics of Swing music in the 1930's. The danceable, infectious rhythms were traded for much more challenging melodies, more complex rhythms and faster tempos. The bebop era was renowned for being virtuosic in character which invited a new breed of musicians such as Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk and Dizzy Gilespie, who went on to influence Jazz music for years to come.

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In the early 1940s in jazz, bebop emerged, led by Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk and others. It helped to shift jazz from danceable popular music towards a more challenging "musician's music." Differing greatly from swing, early bebop divorced itself from dance music, establishing itself more as an art form but lessening its potential popular and commercial value.

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Damien Chazelle's box office hit "La La Land" released in 2016. Whilst the film is set in modern times, the musical interpretation portrays life in Los Angeles in the 40's and 50's with hints of 80's Pop Culture. During the 50's period, Jazz was in its prime but was becoming less popular towards the end of the decade. Chazelle's unique artistic film portrayal, Justin Hurwitz' musical scoring, along with actors Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling's performance, give us an insight into cultural topics such as fashion, art, technology and music during these different time periods. The song "A Lovely Night" (linked below) is an example that expresses these topics.

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Charlie Parker "Bird" was one of the most influential figures in Jazz.
The track below, "Ko-Ko" was one of Parker's most famous pieces. It consists of muted trumpet, saxophone, piano, drums and bass. The main features of this work include, extremely virtuosic melodies, syncopated drums, comping piano chords to reinforce the harmony and fast paced jazz bass line. These features, as well as the smaller ensemble group were typical of the bebop era that Charlie Parker was so famous for influencing.

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Big Band performances were in full swing in the 30's. Jazz was used as entertainment for large parties, even sophisticated gatherings. However, this era was coming to an end due to the events occurring in Europe, America and Asia. WW2 caused inevitable damage to the music industry in general, but particularly in Jazz. An entertainment tax hurt profits for big bands, combined with the draft which meant many male musicians were required to join the army, leaving vacancies in the music industry.
The result of this was fewer jazz musicians, the remaining ones were left to play in smaller bands and in smaller venues.

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Club Harlem was a small jazz club on 145th Street, Harlem. Musician and performer Cecil Taylor shared how he played here from 9pm to 4am, with one 15 minute break. The upright piano had 8 working keys and the pay was 50 dollars a week. It was a highly competitive venue due to the social and political implications of the time such as the impact of the war. This meant all the top musicians were competing for the gig.
Minton's Playhouse was famous for its"jam sessions" in the early 40's, where artists like Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie pushed the boundaries of the art and pioneered bebop. Equally notorious were the clubs "cutting sessions", musical standoffs between the likes of Roy Eldridge, Ben Webster and the famous Lester Young.

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Abstract Expressionism was the artistic movement that took place during these years. It stranded from German Expressionism and Surrealism and was developed Post-WW2. It was the first specifically American movement to achieve international influence and put New York at the center of western art, a feat previously occupied by Paris.