During the early 1940s, innovators like Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, Max Roach, Dizzy Gillespie, Bud Powell, and Charlie Christian invented a new style that came be known as bebop (or bop). Starting with swing forms, they increased the complexity of their solos by improvising based on the notes of the chords in addition to the notes of the melody. The style grew and developed over the next few decades, spawning the classic movements of hard bop, post bop, and modal jazz perpetrated by giants like John Coltrane, Miles Davis, and Sonny Rollins

Notable Artists: Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Bud Powell