Jazz styles and trends tend to radiate outwards from a set of innovative musicians. The emergence of bebop and its distinctions from swing can be demonstrated by a set of Comet recordings created in 1945 by Red Norvo, Teddy Wilson, Slam Stewart, J. C. Heard, Flip Phillips, and, most importantly, Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. Quotation in jazz is a long-standing tradition with no stigma attached to it as is the case in Western art music. The relationship between the quoting and quoted musicians is important: quotation often acts as a form of tribute or a sign of respect. Sometimes this tribute moves in surprising directions. In the case of these albums, older, more established musicians such as Norvo and Wilson offer such gestures of respect to the creativity of the relatively young Gillespie and Parker. Furthermore, the improvised nature of jazz allows quotation to operate not just between songs or works, but within them: Norvo and Wilson quote motives from solos by Gillespie and Parker within the same set.

Works: Red Norvo: Solo on Slam Slam Blues (541-42); Teddy Wilson: Solo on Slam Slam Blues (541-42).

Sources: Dizzy Gillespie: Solo on Slam Slam Blues (541-42); Charlie Parker: Solo on Slam Slam Blues (541-42).

Index Classifications: 1900s, Popular

Contributed by: Paul Killinger