The high point of the Be-bop era was in the late 1940s -- 70 years ago. In the 1950s it became "Progressive Jazz" although it is often all lumped as "be-bop". Dizzy Gillespie had the image of the cool cat with his beret, horn-rimmed glasses and goatee -- the epitome of the be-bop musician. The early be-bop was fast paced -- the progressive jazz slowed down from that tempo and had a more "cool" sound in the 50s and 60s.