The major advancement in jazz in the 1940s was the all-pervasive sound of bebop, developed by artists such as Thelonius Monk, Dizzy Gillespie, Kenny Clark and Charlie Parker. Bebop was characterized by complex harmonies, unusual intervals, frequent chord changes, scalar melodies and fast playing, and was built upon the innovations of earlier musicians such as Lester Young and Roy Eldridge. Saxophonist Coleman Hawkins was one of the first of the older artists to embrace the movement and this track, which he wrote in 1933, proves that he was sensible to many of bebop's defining features years before the style reached its zenith. The challenging harmonies and atonal sounds of 'Queer Notions' set it apart from the majority of jazz music of its time, which generally adhered to more conventional harmonic structures. The Henderson arrangement, complete with burning solos from saxophonist Hawkins and trumpeter Henry 'Red' Allen, sounds anachronistic but began to awaken others' minds to the possibilities of greater harmonic and melodic freedom.

Links

http://www.wsws.org/arts/1998/may1998/bop-m22.shtml
An essay about bebop's importance in the history of jazz.

http://redhotjazz.com
An invaluable resource on early jazz, with extensive biographies, essays and downloadable tracks.

http://www.rootsandrhythm.com/
International US-based mail order record catalogue, specializing in roots music.

http://www.jazznblues.co.uk/
UK-based jazz and blues record specialists.