Although the big band in jazz is most often associated with the swing era of the 1930s, the innovations of bebop in the 1940s also found its way into the big band tradition through the work of bandleaders and arrangers such as Dizzy Gillespie, Tadd Dameron, and later Thad Jones in the 1950s and 1960s. Not content to perform the same styles of popular jazz from the swing era, these musicians translated the high-speed, high-intensity style of small-group bebop to the large ensemble, which continued the evolution of the big band in the middle of years of the 20th century. This May, The Blue Note Beijing Big Band pays tribute to the pioneering work of the bebop big bands, performing a thrilling program of classic bebop arrangements that showcase the modern harmonies and virtuosic rhythms of this music.