United Future Organization

The music played by a generation raised on jazz as well as funk and hip-hop, Acid Jazz used elements of all three; its existence as a percussion-heavy, primarily live music placed it closer to jazz and Afro-Cuban than any other dance style, but its insistence on keeping the groove allied it with funk, hip-hop, and dance music. The term itself first appeared in 1988 as both an American record label and the title of an English compilation series that reissued jazz-funk music from the '70s,... [+] Read More

The music played by a generation raised on jazz as well as funk and hip-hop, Acid Jazz used elements of all three; its existence as a percussion-heavy, primarily live music placed it closer to jazz and Afro-Cuban than any other dance style, but its insistence on keeping the groove allied it with funk, hip-hop, and dance music. The term itself first appeared in 1988 as both an American record label and the title of an English compilation series that reissued jazz-funk music from the '70s, called "rare groove" by the Brits during a major mid-'80s resurgence. A variety of acid jazz artists emerged during the late '80s and early '90s: live bands such as Stereo MC's, James Taylor Quartet, the Brand New Heavies, Groove Collective, Galliano, and Jamiroquai, as well as studio projects like Palm Skin Productions, Mondo Grosso, Outside, and United Future Organization. [-] Hide

Woody Herman

Although Big Bands -- meaning a jazz group that features over 10 musicians -- have played a variety of different styles in jazz history, from bop to free jazz, it usually is understood to refer to the '30s and '40s, the classic era of swing. During that time, most of the jazz groups were Big Bands and they played a robust, invigorating style of swing that derived from New Orleans jazz. Swing was dance music, yet it offered individual musicians a chance to improvise musically fresh,... [+] Read More

Although Big Bands -- meaning a jazz group that features over 10 musicians -- have played a variety of different styles in jazz history, from bop to free jazz, it usually is understood to refer to the '30s and '40s, the classic era of swing. During that time, most of the jazz groups were Big Bands and they played a robust, invigorating style of swing that derived from New Orleans jazz. Swing was dance music, yet it offered individual musicians a chance to improvise musically fresh, technically complex solos. Since swinging Big Bands led by Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Benny Goodman and Tommy Dorsey were extraordinarily popular, the terms became interchangeable in the public eye. It may be disingenuous to call all Big Bands "swing" -- just like all "swing" isn't performed by Big Bands -- but the two are forever tied together, since they matured simultaneously. Furthermore, Big Bands from different genres, whether it's cool jazz or jazz-rock, often borrow from the Swing Big Band tradition. [-] Hide

Clarke-Boland Big Band

Also known as bebop, bop was a radical new music that developed gradually in the early 1940's and seemed to explode in 1945. The main difference between bop and swing is that the soloists engaged in chordal (rather than melodic) improvisation, often discarding the melody altogether after the first chorus and using the chords as the basis for the solo. Ensembles tended to be unisons, most jazz groups were under seven pieces and the soloist was free to get as adventurous as possible as long as... [+] Read More

Also known as bebop, bop was a radical new music that developed gradually in the early 1940's and seemed to explode in 1945. The main difference between bop and swing is that the soloists engaged in chordal (rather than melodic) improvisation, often discarding the melody altogether after the first chorus and using the chords as the basis for the solo. Ensembles tended to be unisons, most jazz groups were under seven pieces and the soloist was free to get as adventurous as possible as long as the overall improvisation fit into the chord structure. Since the musicians were getting away from using the melodies as the basis for their solos (leading some listeners to ask "Where's the melody?"), the players were generally virtuosos and some of the tempos were very fast, bop divorced itself during the early years of bop from popular music and a dancing audience, uplifting jazz to an art music but cutting deeply into its potential commercial success. Ironically the once-radical bebop style has become the foundation for all of the innovations that followed and now can be almost thought of as establishment music. Among its key innovators were altoist Charlie Parker, trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, pianist Bud Powell, drummer Max Roach and pianist-composer Thelonious Monk. Bop also mutated into Swing-Bop, which crossed the inventions of bop with a swinging Big Band, and Vocalese, which was a vocal interpretation of bop. Contemporary artists performing straight bop are often classified as Modern Bop [-] Hide

Dave Brubeck Quartet

In the late 1940's and 1950's cool jazz evolved directly from bop. Essentially it was a mixture of bop with certain aspects of swing that had been overlooked or temporarily discarded. Dissonances were smoothed out, tones were softened, arrangements became important again and the rhythm section's accents were less jarring. Because some of the key pacesetters of the style (many of whom were studio musicians) were centered in Los Angeles, it was nicknamed "West Coast Jazz." Some of the... [+] Read More

In the late 1940's and 1950's cool jazz evolved directly from bop. Essentially it was a mixture of bop with certain aspects of swing that had been overlooked or temporarily discarded. Dissonances were smoothed out, tones were softened, arrangements became important again and the rhythm section's accents were less jarring. Because some of the key pacesetters of the style (many of whom were studio musicians) were centered in Los Angeles, it was nicknamed "West Coast Jazz." Some of the recordings were experimental in nature (hinting at classical music) while some overarranged sessions were bland but in general this was a viable and popular style. By the late 1950's hard bop from the East Coast had succeeded cool jazz although many of the style's top players had long and productive careers. Among the many top artists who were important in the development of Cool Jazz were Lester Young, Miles Davis, Gerry Mulligan, Stan Getz, Shorty Rogers and Howard Rumsey (leader of the Lighthouse All-Stars). ~ Scott Yanow [-] Hide

Joe McPhee

Dixieland and swing stylists improvise melodically and bop, cool and hard bop players follow chord structures in their solos. Free Jazz was a radical departure from past styles for typically after playing a quick theme, the soloist does not have to follow any progression or structure and can go in any unpredictable direction. When Ornette Coleman largely introduced Free Jazz to New York audiences (although Cecil Taylor had preceded him with less publicity), many of the bop musicians and fans... [+] Read More

Dixieland and swing stylists improvise melodically and bop, cool and hard bop players follow chord structures in their solos. Free Jazz was a radical departure from past styles for typically after playing a quick theme, the soloist does not have to follow any progression or structure and can go in any unpredictable direction. When Ornette Coleman largely introduced Free Jazz to New York audiences (although Cecil Taylor had preceded him with less publicity), many of the bop musicians and fans debated about whether what was being played would even qualify as music; the radicals had become conservatives in less than 15 years. Free Jazz, which overlaps with the avant-garde, remains a controversial and mostly underground style, influencing the modern mainstream while often being ignored.

Avant-garde Jazz differs from Free Jazz in that it has more structure in the ensembles (more of a "game plan") although the individual improvisations are generally just as free of conventional rules. In the best Avant-Garde performances it is difficult to tell when compositions end and improvisations begin; the goal is to have the solos be an outgrowth of the arrangement. As with Free Jazz, the Avant-Garde came of age in the 1960's and has continued almost unnoticed as a menacing force in the jazz underground, scorned by the mainstream that it influences. Among its founders in the mid-to-late 1950's were pianist Cecil Taylor, altoist Ornette Coleman and keyboardist-bandleader Sun Ra. John Coltrane became the avant-garde's most popular (and influential) figure and from the mid-1960's on the avant-garde innovators made a major impact on jazz, helping to push the music beyond bebop. ~ Scott Yanow [-] Hide

The Yellowjackets

The word "fusion" has been so liberally used during the past quarter-century as to become almost meaningless. Fusion's original definition was best: a mixture of jazz improvisation with the power and rhythms of rock. Up until around 1967 the worlds of jazz and rock were nearly completely separate. But as rock became more creative and its musicianship improved, and as some in the jazz world became bored with hard bop and did not want to play strictly avant-garde music, the two different idioms... [+] Read More

The word "fusion" has been so liberally used during the past quarter-century as to become almost meaningless. Fusion's original definition was best: a mixture of jazz improvisation with the power and rhythms of rock. Up until around 1967 the worlds of jazz and rock were nearly completely separate. But as rock became more creative and its musicianship improved, and as some in the jazz world became bored with hard bop and did not want to play strictly avant-garde music, the two different idioms began to trade ideas and occasionally combine forces. By the early 1970's, fusion had its own separate identity as a creative jazz style (although sneered upon by many purists) and such major groups as Return To Forever, Weather Report, the Mahavishnu Orchestra and Miles Davis' various bands were playing high-quality fusion that mixed together some of the best qualities of both jazz and rock. Unfortunately as it became a moneymaker, much of what was labelled fusion was actually a combination of jazz with easy-listening pop music and lightweight R&B. This style of commercially-oriented, melodic, crossover jazz became the dominant style of fusion in the '80s, and by the beginning of the '90s, it had earned a new name -- smooth jazz -- which further separated from the risk-taking fusion that was its forefather. ~ Scott Yanow



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Joe Henderson

Although some history books claim that hard bop arose as a reaction to the softer sounds featured in cool jazz, it was actually an extension of bop that largely ignored West Coast jazz. The main differences between hard bop and bop are that the melodies tend to be simpler and often more "soulful," the rhythm section is usually looser with the bassist not as tightly confined to playing four-beats-to-the-bar as in bop, a gospel influence is felt in some of the music and quite often the... [+] Read More

Although some history books claim that hard bop arose as a reaction to the softer sounds featured in cool jazz, it was actually an extension of bop that largely ignored West Coast jazz. The main differences between hard bop and bop are that the melodies tend to be simpler and often more "soulful," the rhythm section is usually looser with the bassist not as tightly confined to playing four-beats-to-the-bar as in bop, a gospel influence is felt in some of the music and quite often the saxophonists and pianists sound as if they were quite familiar with early rhythm and blues. Since the prime time period of hard bop (1955-70) was a decade later than bop, these differences were a logical evolution and one can think of hard bop as bop of the 50's and 60's. By the early '60s, the music had already splintered into a number of different styles, notably Modal Jazz, Post-Bop and Soul-Jazz. By the second half of the 1960's, the influence of the avant-garde was being felt and some of the more adventurous performances of the hard bop stylists (such as Jackie McLean and Lee Morgan) fell somewhere between the two styles. With the rise of fusion and the sale of Blue Note (hard bop's top label) in the late 1960's, the style fell upon hard times although it was revived to a certain extent in the 1980's. Much of the music performed by the so-called Young Lions during the latter decade (due to other influences altering their style) can be said to play Modern Mainstream although some groups (such as the Harper Brothers and T.S. Monk's Sextet) have kept the 1960's idiom alive. ~ Scott Yanow [-] Hide

Abdullah Ibrahim

Of all the post-swing styles, Latin Jazz has been the most consistently popular and it is easy to see why. The emphasis on percussion and Cuban rhythms make the style quite danceable and accessible. Essentially it is a mixture of bop-oriented jazz with Latin percussion. Among the pioneers in mixing together the two styles in the 1940's were the big bands of Dizzy Gillespie and Machito and the music (which has never gone out of style) has remained a viable force through the 1990's, played most... [+] Read More

Of all the post-swing styles, Latin Jazz has been the most consistently popular and it is easy to see why. The emphasis on percussion and Cuban rhythms make the style quite danceable and accessible. Essentially it is a mixture of bop-oriented jazz with Latin percussion. Among the pioneers in mixing together the two styles in the 1940's were the big bands of Dizzy Gillespie and Machito and the music (which has never gone out of style) has remained a viable force through the 1990's, played most notably by the bands of Tito Puente and Poncho Sanchez. The style has not changed much during the past 40 years but it still communicates to today's listeners. Latin Jazz is also sometimes called Afro-Cuban Jazz, a term preferred by Mario Bauza and Ray Barretto.

Latin Jazz and its cousins Afro-Cuban jazz, Brazilian Jazz and New York Salsa are the most familiar and popular jazz styles that borrow heavily from various world music. There, however, are other jazz musicians that take from other styles of World music, and their music is often called World Fusion. ~ Scott Yanow

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Original Dixieland Jazz Band

New Orleans was the home of the first jazz style, and it took the form of small-band music that was first prominent at the beginning of the 1900s. Though called "Dixieland" by many listeners, this music is distinguished from its descendants because it is somewhat less solo-oriented. Though traditional New Orleans jazz was performed by blacks, whites, and African-American creoles, some historians reserve the "Dixieland" term for white derivatives and revivals of this style, organized mostly by... [+] Read More

New Orleans was the home of the first jazz style, and it took the form of small-band music that was first prominent at the beginning of the 1900s. Though called "Dixieland" by many listeners, this music is distinguished from its descendants because it is somewhat less solo-oriented. Though traditional New Orleans jazz was performed by blacks, whites, and African-American creoles, some historians reserve the "Dixieland" term for white derivatives and revivals of this style, organized mostly by musicians in Chicago, New York, and San Francisco.

This music originated with brass bands and "string bands" that performed for parties and dances in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The groups used combinations of cornet, clarinet, saxophone, trombone, tuba, guitar, banjo, bass viol, drums, and piano. The music usually featured several moving parts at the same time. The arrangements contained a considerable amount of flexibility from performance to performance. Many of the solos and embellishments were improvised, and much of the melody was paraphrased for personalization. The musicians refined the syncopations of ragtime, and adapted pop tunes, marches, hymns, blues, and rags for their repertory. The music was quite lively and featured a wide assortment of unusual tone qualities and soulful inflections of a melody tone's pitch. The most extensively recorded groups of this time and style were led by Joe Oliver (Creole Jazz Band), Jelly Roll Morton (Red Hot Peppers), Johnny Dodds, Kid Ory, idney Bechet, Louis Armstrong, and Nick LaRocca (The Original Dixieland Jazz Band). ~ Mark C. Gridley [-] Hide

Ramsey Lewis

Soul Jazz, which was the most popular jazz style of the 1960's, differs from bebop and hard bop (from which it originally developed) in that the emphasis is on the rhythmic groove. Although soloists follow the chords as in bop, the basslines (often played by an organist if not a string bassist) dance rather than stick strictly to a four-to-the bar walking pattern. The musicians build their accompaniment around the bassline and, although there are often strong melodies, it is the catchiness of... [+] Read More

Soul Jazz, which was the most popular jazz style of the 1960's, differs from bebop and hard bop (from which it originally developed) in that the emphasis is on the rhythmic groove. Although soloists follow the chords as in bop, the basslines (often played by an organist if not a string bassist) dance rather than stick strictly to a four-to-the bar walking pattern. The musicians build their accompaniment around the bassline and, although there are often strong melodies, it is the catchiness of the groove and the amount of heat generated by the soloists that determine whether the performance is successful. Soul Jazz's roots trace back to pianist Horace Silver whose funky style infused bop with the influence of church and gospel music along with the blues. Other pianists who followed and used similar approaches were Bobby Timmons, Junior Mance, Les McCann, Gene Harris (with his Three Sounds) and Ramsey Lewis. With the emergence of organist Jimmy Smith in 1956 (who has dominated his instrument ever since), soul jazz organ combos (usually also including a tenor, guitarist, drummer and an occasional bassist) caught on and soulful players including Brother Jack McDuff, Shirley Scott, Jimmy McGriff, Charles Earland and Richard "Groove" Holmes, along with such other musicians as guitarists Grant Green, George Benson and Kenny Burrell, tenors Stanley Turrentine, Willis "Gator" Jackson, Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, David "Fathead" Newman, Gene "Jug" Ammons, Houston Person, Jimmy Forrest, King Curtis, Red Holloway and Eddie Harris and altoist Hank Crawford were soul jazz stars. Despite its eclipse by fusion and synthesizers in the 1970's, soul jazz has stayed alive and made a healthy comeback in recent years.

Groove is a sub-set of Soul-Jazz, one that is injected with the blues and concentrates on the rhythm. It is a funky, joyous music, where everything in the performance is there to establish and maintain the groove. There's a steady beat to the music, whether it's uptempo funk or slow blues. Usually, Groove is performed by small combos that feature guitar, organ, bass and drums. Horns, especially saxophones, can be featured, but sometimes the presence of too many horns moves the music too close to hard-bop, which tends to be cerebral. Groove is emotional and physical, hitting your soul. In many ways, it's almost spiritual, since everyone is working collectively for the greater good, and, at its best, it locks into rhythms that are nearly hypnotic. Groove always has funky rhythms, bluesy vamps and, usually, gospel overtones to the playing. There are solos, but they are worked into the overall feeling, the overall groove of the music and, in the end, that's what counts with Groove. ~ Scott Yanow & Stephen Thomas Erlewine [-] Hide