Jazz in Revolution: The Big Bands of the 1940s
Liner Notes   Cat. No. 80284     Release Date: 1977-01-01
Jazz moved to a new and more intense level of creativity in the forties. Redefined and reassembled by a number of key figures, it entered what critics tightly tied to the past called an “impossible” phase—a stormy adolescence. No longer a charming, entertaining, ingratiating child, the comparatively sophisticated jazz of the forties challenged the listener and musician, motivating a complete reassessment of position.

The decade's changes offered but two options: one either dismissed the “modern” harmonies, melodies, and rhythms and the imaginative, facile players, arrangers, and composers who created this music, negating their need for self assertion and identity, and retreated into the comfort of the past; or one listened— a new experience for some—and came to terms with the times. For a surprising number it was difficult to accept the revolution. Battle lines were drawn. The traditionalists, including several leading musicians —Louis Armstrong was one—and those with contemporary inclinations found little or no common ground.

By its nature an evolving form, jazz had been undergoing modifications through the thirties. The next ten years, however, brought together the right circumstances and gifted, discontented people seeking to offer an accurate musical picture of the period and themselves—the components for rebellion.

Various Artists

Jazz in Revolution: The Big Bands of the 1940s

Track Listing

Album/track(s) not yet available for download, but you may listen to clip(s) below.
A-La-Bridges
Dameron Stomp
The Saint
Elevation
Five O'Clock Shadow
Good Jelly Blues
Mingus Fingers
Donna Lee
Perdido
Zonky
Tea For Two
I Can't Get Up The Nerve
Mellow Mood
Royal Roost
The Chase, Parts I & II

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