When Dizzy Gillespie hit Sweden and Denmark, the halls were barely big enough to hold all the beboppers; in Paris, zealous French zazous (jazz fans) came to blows over him. Last week, Manhattan's Carnegie Hall was full of beboppers. Bebop* was apparently no laughing matter.
In Carnegie Hall, no one had to strain to hear what frantic Trumpeter Gillespie and his 15 boppers (including four other trumpets) had to say. Whatever else, bebop is screechingly loud. It is also breathlessly fast, with some biting dissonance and shifty rhythms, with the brass blaring out accents up on top. Pieces like Two Bass Hit...
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