Hard bop emerged in the mid-1950s as an extension of bebop rooted in Black gospel, blues and rhythm and blues. Compared with bebop it often favoured medium tempos, simpler and more singable themes, gospel-tinged piano chords and harder, more expressive saxophone tones. It was also partly a reaction to the more European-leaning polish of cool jazz.
Its leading figures included the drummer Art Blakey and his Jazz Messengers, the pianist and composer Horace Silver, the trumpeter Clifford Brown with the drummer Max Roach, and later Cannonball Adderley, Lee Morgan and Wayne Shorter. Blakey’s Moanin’ (1958) is often called the quintessential hard bop album, and Blue Note recorded and promoted much of the style between the early 1950s and the late 1960s. Its bluesy grooves led directly to soul jazz, and its warm horn sections and piano chords remain a natural source of colour for jazz lo-fi.