Popular Classics Riddle of the Sands

This freed the jazz performer and allowed him to concentrate on improvisation. This borrowed material included everything from spirituals to popular songs - the bulk coming from a vocal tradition. The 1950’s saw the extension of the technical resources of the soloists and an increase in the complexity of the material accepted, modified, or composed for jazz. The language of Jazz had been greatly enriched by the advent of Bob and the West Coast school of the era. In the ‘60’s, the previous pattern of evolution and revolution regarding prior styles would continue but something new would happen - it would almost mirror the developments of the new trends of Western Concert Music. This additional path would be concerned with the disintegration of the structural background of the music itself [much like their ‘Classical’ counterparts]. The jazz musician - in considering established practice no longer relevant to contemporary culture and society - would start a search for a new musical language relevant to contemporary life ...»