hard bop

American  

noun

1. an aggressive, driving, hot style of modern jazz developed by East Coast musicians in the late 1950s as a rejection of the more relaxed, cool style of West Coast jazz.

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hard bop British  

noun

1. a form of jazz originating in the late 1950s that is rhythmically less complex than bop

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Compare meaning

How does hard-bop compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• hard bop vs. bebop

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

hard bop

He adds a funky countermelody, reminiscent of Horace Silver or Lee Morgan, and remakes “Billy Joe” into a remarkable slice of hard bop, a 12-minute roller-coaster ride.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 1, 2026

Heath, who was known as Tootie, was primarily a bebop and hard bop drummer but was adept in a range of styles.

From Seattle Times ● Apr. 12, 2024

This performance situates her squarely in the sonic genealogy of the East Coast hard bop aesthetic.

From New York Times ● Apr. 5, 2023

Hart’s collaborations soon took him on the road to play the hard bop of Smith and Montgomery, the soul-jazz of Harris, the funky fusion of Hancock’s “Mwandishi” sextet and the avant-garde of saxophonist Pharoah Sanders.

From Washington Post ● Mar. 26, 2022

Across the recordings, most of which were first issued posthumously starting in the mid-1980s, Pepper and band jump from amped-up hard bop to seductive, breathy balladry.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 17, 2019