<P> Hard bop is sometimes referred to as "funky hard bop ." The "funky" label refers to the rollicking, rhythmic feeling associated with the style . The descriptor is also used to describe soul jazz, which is commonly associated with hard bop . According to Mark C. Gridley, soul jazz more specifically refers to music with "an earthy, bluesy melodic concept and...repetitive, dance - like rhythms...Note that some listeners make no distinction between' soul - jazz' and' funky hard bop,' and many musicians don't consider' soul - jazz' to be continuous with' hard bop ."' The term "soul" suggests the church, and traditional gospel music elements such as "amen chords" (the plagal cadence) and triadic harmonies that seemed to suddenly appear in jazz during the era . </P> <P> According to Nat Hentoff in his 1957 liner notes for the Art Blakey Columbia LP entitled Hard Bop, the phrase was originated by music critic and pianist John Mehegan, jazz reviewer of the New York Herald Tribune at that time . Hard bop first developed in the mid-1950s, and is generally seen as originating with The Jazz Messengers, a quartet led by pianist Horace Silver and drummer Art Blakey . Some saw hard bop as a response to cool jazz and West Coast jazz . As Paul Tanner, Maurice Gerow, and David Megill explain, "the hard bop school...saw the new instrumentation and compositional devices used by cool musicians as gimmicks rather than valid developments of the jazz tradition ." However, Shelly Manne suggested that cool jazz and hard bop simply reflected their respective geographic environments: the relaxed cool jazz style reflected a more relaxed lifestyle in California, while driving bop typified the New York scene . Some writers, such as James Lincoln Collier, suggest that the style was an attempt to recapture jazz as a form of African American expression . Whether or not this was the intent, many musicians quickly adopted the style, regardless of race . </P> <P> Michael Cuscuna maintains that Silver and Blakey's efforts were in response to the New York bebop scene: </P> <P> Both Art and Horace were very, very aware of what they wanted to do . They wanted to get away from the jazz scene of the early' 50s, which was the Birdland scene--you hire Phil Woods or Charlie Parker or J.J. Johnson, they come and sit in with the house rhythm section, and they only play blues and standards that everybody knows . There's no rehearsal, there's no thought given to the audience . Both Horace and Art knew that the only way to get the jazz audience back and make it bigger than ever was to really make music that was memorable and planned, where you consider the audience and keep everything short . They really liked digging into blues and gospel, things with universal appeal . So they put together what was to be called the Jazz Messengers . </P>

Like bebop hard bop was very popular and attractive millions of dancers