Home Cookin’: A Network Analysis of Hard Bop Jazz

• In Event: 3184 - Section on Sociology of Culture Refereed Roundtable Session
  In Refereed Roundtable 100min: Table 04. Culture and Networks

Abstract

The sub-genre of hard bop Jazz developed out the east coast Jazz scene in the mid-1950s. Its imagery and sound became deeply associated with the Black urban experience in post-war America. Several historical accounts have attempted to trace the emergence and development of hard bop. While these pieces are rich with detail and tell a comprehensive story, they arguably obfuscate some of the core sociological processes underpinning this musical phenomenon. The sonic development of hard bop can be theorized as a social process given the fundamentally social nature of musical creation. Modern (i.e. post-war) jazz is a great example of this as it emphasizes group participation, yet the conception of a stable “band” is de-emphasized. As such, there is a consistent pattern of different musicians pairing up for live performances, but also for studio performances. Building off this, I argue that it is possible to understand the sonic development of hard bop from the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s through examining shared appearances on albums, or LPs. My results illuminate not only previously under emphasized central figures in the scene, but also suggest that multiple cliques developed within the sub-genre that each represent slightly different approaches. These results build upon our knowledge of how musical styles and genres evolve and demonstrate the utility of formal/structural analysis in understanding this process.

Author

• Eric Bjorklund, University of Arizona