The new sound, however, helped establish jazz as a serious artistic form. Bebop was the first jazz style not used for dancing and has become a benchmark for innovation and creativity. Bebop developed in the early '40s and reached its height in the late '40s. I like to think of it as the Dizzy and Bird era, Bird meaning Charlie Parker. The new music stretched harmonic boundaries established by earlier jazz styles and demanded masterful execution on instruments that had not been heard previously.
Great artists are never satisfied with what happened the last time or last year.
Bebop elicited criticism though. The demanding musical style was accused of introducing a new jazz elitism among both listeners and players and never managed to achieve the same mainstream status that swing did. Bebop is still not a big seller but it is one of the most important aspects of jazz education. Like all musical forms, the bebop era eventually gave way to new jazz styles and innovations. Bebop, however, undeniably changed the direction of jazz.