A Little Jazz, A Lot of Rhythm

Dear Reader,

When thinking of jazz artists such as Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and Earl Hines, your first thought would likely be the bebop jazz era. But would you think to compare this period in American Jazz to the folk music found in the Sub-Saharan part of Africa?  You would be surprised to see many of the similarities present in these two genres of music.

Sub-Saharan folk and Bebop both have a few basic things in common. The most apparent similarity is their use of rhythm. The structure of both styles relies heavily on the rhythm or drum section of each piece. Another similarity is what the music was used for, or how the music influenced the era occurring around it.

         A few differences between the two styles can be found as well. The instrumentation of the two genres is intensely unalike, and many of the harmonic styles present in the bebop period are very different from the Sub-Saharan period. It’s important to note as well that the relationship between the player and the music differs, a point that is often left without consideration.

          A piece that I feel accurately represents Sub-Saharan African Music would be the piece “Ompeh”, a folk song originating from Ghana. In contrast, a piece that well represents the experienced, fast pace of bebop would be none other than a piece called, "Bebop", by Dizzy Gillespie[6], and performed by his Quartet. Using these pieces it becomes easy to clarify the differences and similarities between these two time periods.

                                                                   

                                                   Signing Off,

                                                                                        Brianna Jones