ABSTRACT
An underground, cult-like, rebellious music, bebop, or “rebop” as it was first called, lacked the commercial appeal of the big dance band. Instead, its appeal was based on new challenges for listeners and practitioners, who strove to create a new form of jazz that demanded the attention of its listeners and was not subservient to any other form of entertainment. Although there were several big bands that played danceable, bop-like music, bop music was largely played by small bands and made no effort to pander to the dance-hungry public, as had been the case during the previous decade. The new, younger-generation black musicians sought to reclaim their music, reshaping it as an art-music through a combination of experimentation and repackaging of certain aspects of the earlier jazz tradition.
