Music is an important part of the scene that Kerouac sets in On the Road. Early in the book (Pt. 1, Ch. 3), he establishes the time period with references to the musical world: "At this time, 1947, bop was going like mad all over America. The fellows at the Loop blew, but with a tired air, because bop was somewhere between its Charlie Parker Ornithology period and another period that began with Miles Davis. And as I sat there listening to that sound of the night which bop has come to represent for all of us, I thought of all my friends from one end of the country to the other and how they were really all in the same vast backyard doing something so frantic and rushing-about."
Main characters Sal Paradise and Dean Moriarty are clearly enthusiastic fans of the jazz/bebop and early rhythm-and-blues musicians and records that were in the musical mix during the years when story took place, 1947 to 1950. Sal, Dean, and their friends are repeatedly depicted listening to specific records and going to clubs to hear their musical favorites.
For example, in one of two separate passages where they go to clubs to hear British jazz pianist George Shearing, the effect of the music is described as almost overwhelming for Dean (Pt. 2, Ch. 4): "Shearing began to play his chords; they rolled out of the piano in great rich showers, you'd think the man wouldn't have time to line them up. They rolled and rolled like the sea. Folks yelled for him to 'Go!' Dean was sweating; the sweat poured down his collar. 'There he is! That's him! Old God! Old God Shearing! Yes! Yes! Yes!' And Shearing was conscious of the madman behind him, he could hear every one of Dean's gasps and imprecations, he could sense it though he couldn't see. 'That's right!' Dean said. 'Yes!' Shearing smiled; he rocked. Shearing rose from the piano, dripping with sweat; these were his great 1949 days before he became cool and commercial. When he was gone Dean pointed to the empty piano seat. 'God's empty chair,' he said."
Kerouac mentions many other musical artists and their records throughout On the Road: Charlie Parker – "Ornithology" (Pt. 1, Ch. 3; also Pt. 3, Ch. 10); Lionel Hampton – "Central Avenue Breakdown" (Pt. 1, Ch. 13; also Pt. 4, Ch. 4); Billie Holiday – "Lover Man" (Pt.1, Ch. 13; also Pt. 3, Ch. 4); Dexter Gordon and Wardell Gray – "The Hunt" (Pt. 2, Ch. 1; Pt. 2, Ch. 4); Dizzy Gillespie – "Congo Blues" (Pt. 3, Ch. 7 – recorded under Red Norvo's name and also featuring Charlie Parker; also Pt. 3, Ch. 10; Pt. 4, Ch. 3); Willis Jackson – "Gator Tail" (Pt. 4, Ch. 1 – recorded with the Cootie Williams Orchestra); Wynonie Harris – "I Like My Baby's Pudding" (Pt. 4, Ch. 4); and Perez Prado -- "More Mambo Jambo," "Chattanooga de Mambo," "Mambo Numero Ocho" ("Mambo No. 8") (Pt. 4, Ch. 5).
Kerouac also notes several other musical artists without mentioning specific records: Miles Davis (Pt. 1, Ch. 3; Pt. 3, Ch. 10); George Shearing and his drummer Denzil Best (Pt. 2, Ch. 4; Pt. 3, Ch. 10); Slim Gaillard (Pt. 2, Ch. 11); Lester Young (Pt. 3, Ch. 10; Pt. 4, Ch. 1); Louis Armstrong (Pt. 3, Ch. 10); Roy Eldridge (Pt. 3, Ch. 10); Count Basie (Pt. 3, Ch. 10); Bennie Moten (Pt. 3, Ch. 10); Hot Lips Page (Pt. 3, Ch. 10); Thelonious Monk (Pt. 3, Ch. 10); Anita O'Day (Pt. 3, Ch. 10); Stan Getz (Pt. 4, Ch. 1); Lucky Millinder (Pt. 4, Ch. 4); and Duke Ellington (Pt. 5).
Jazz and other types of music are also featured more generally as a backdrop, with the characters often listening to music in clubs or on the radio. For example, while driving across the upper Midwest toward New York City, Sal mentions that he and Dean are listening to the radio show of well-known jazz deejay Symphony Sid Torin (Pt. 3, Ch. 11).
Kerouac also delves into the classical music genre briefly, having Sal attend a performance of Beethoven's sole opera, Fidelio (1805), in Central City, Colorado, as performed by "stars of the Metropolitan" who are visiting the area for the summer (Pt. 1, Ch. 9).
