I Wish I Knew

Blue Mitchell (trumpet), Wynton Kelly (piano), Sam Jones (bass) and Roy Brooks (drums). From the album Blue’s Moods (1960).

Hard bop not only appeared in the mid-1950s as a reaction to cool jazz and West Coast jazz, but also because the decline of bebop. The answer was a renewal from a mix of bebop with gospel, blues and rhythm and blues. Inspiration is sought in these genres of the African-American musical tradition and their characteristics: a strong rhythmic sense, an accent in syncopation and emotional strength.

In this new style contributed the Jazz Messengers of Horace Silver and Max Roach, the quintet of Clifford Brown and Max Roach, the quintet of Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins, Cannonball Adderley, Jackie McLean, Johnny Griffin, Benny Golson, Sonny Stitt, Lee Morgan and Wes Montgomery among others.

Once again we have a medium tempo theme, similar to the previous one, overflowing with joy and desire to live. Without further ado, Mitchell does his solo by measuring well his sentences and linking them with imagination. His animated speech invites you to have good wishes. Then Kelly comes in playing fast phrases full of jumping notes that seem to dance around the piano, and Mitchell returns to make a brief passage and re-expose the theme.