Jazz is a musical art form which originated around the beginning of the 20th century in Black communities in the Southern United States from a confluence of African and European music traditions. The style’s West African pedigree is evident in its use of blue notes, call-and-response, improvisation, polyrhythms, syncopation, and the swung note of ragtime.
From its early development until the present, jazz has also incorporated music from 19th and 20th century American popular music, which is based on European music traditions. The word jazz began as a West Coast slang term of uncertain derivation and was first used to refer to music in Chicago in about 1915.
Jazz has, from its early 20th century inception, spawned a variety of subgenres, from New Orleans Dixieland dating from the early 1910s, big band-style swing from the 1930s and 1940s, bebop from the mid-1940s, a variety of Latin-jazz fusions such as Afro-Cuban and Brazilian jazz from the 1950s and 1960s, jazz-rock fusion from the 1970s and later developments such as acid jazz. /r/Jazz/ | Wikipedia
Afro Blue - Explore The Roots And Rhythms Of Jazz As the title describes, this is Blue Note's take on African influenced stuff from their archive. As with a lot of Blue Note compilations this is a safe nod in the direction of the area they are covering, so don't expect a deep exploration of Afro-centric jazz, but instead expect the usual Blue Note suspects dangling their feet in the incredibly interesting waters of Afro-centric jazz as opposed to diving head on in. All that aside there are some good tunes on here, even if they are a little unadventurous. Listen on: Deezer | Rdio | Spotify
Blue Break Beats There are four in Blue Note's Break Beat series, volumes 1 and 3 (this one is mostly unavailable for streaming) are definitely the better ones, but if you're not into spending a fortune hunting down originals, then I'd just get all four of them. Regardless of who sampled what, you'll just just have four albums of jazzy funk and funky jazz, what more could you want. Listen on: Deezer | Rdio | Spotify
A popular form of West meets East, with many songs using jazz instruments. Early jazz influences began with the use of the saxophone by musicians like Samir Suroor, in the “oriental” style. The use of the saxophone in that manner can be found in Abdel Halim Hafez’s songs, as well as Kadim Al Sahir and Rida Al Abdallah today. The first mainstream jazz elements were incorporated into Arabic music by the Rahbani brothers. Fairuz’s later work was almost exclusively made up of jazz songs, composed by her son Ziad Rahbani. Ziad Rahbani also pioneered today’s oriental jazz movement, to which singers including Rima Khcheich, Salma El Mosfi, and (on occasion) Latifa adhere. We can also find a lot of jazz music in Mohamed Mounir’s songs starting from his first album which it was in 1977. Other important artists are Ahmed Abdul-Malik, Anouar Brahem, and Rabih Abou-Khalil. Last.fm | Wikipedia
Free Jazz is a Jazz music subgenre with origins in the early 1960s. Appearing in the dawn of what would later become the more widespread Avant-Garde Jazz movement, Free Jazz attempts to break free from the conventions and patterns imposed by earlier Jazz subgenres in terms of melodic, harmonic and rhythmic sequences and changes within which improvisation, one of the essential aspects of Jazz, occurs. Dissonance, atonality, disposal of regular harmonic structures and increased rhythmic changes are prevalent in the style. The movement would take its name from Ornette Coleman's 1961 release Free Jazz, credited for serving as the foundation of later recordings of a more "free" nature associated with the genre. Last.fm | Wikipedia
Notable artists: Ornette Coleman, Sun Ra, Cecil Taylor, Don Cherry, Albert Ayler, Anthony Braxton and Peter Brötzmann.
Yass is a term coined at the beginning of 1990s by Polish Avant-Garde Jazz musicians Tymon Tymański, Mazzoll and Tomasz Gwinciński to describe the cross-genre, frequently arrhythmic, improvised music they played with e.g. Miłość, Łoskot and Mazzoll & Arhythmic Perfection. Yass comprises the stylistics and elements of genres ranging from Folk to Punk Rock.
The Yass scene emerged in Tricity (an aggregate of the three neighbouring towns of Gdańsk, Gdynia and Sopot) and Bydgoszcz whose Mózg became the "home venue" for Yass performers (e.g. Koncert w Mózgu) with its own label releasing a number of Yass productions.
A good overview of the Yass scene comes with the compilation album Cały ten Yass! released by Jazz Forum magazine just after the genre's heyday.
Bebop[]
Charlie Parker
Bebop is a style of Jazz characterized by fast tempos, improvisation, irregular melodic phrasing, and complex harmonies and chord structures. Inspired by Swing music, bebop was developed in the 1940s and 50s by musicians such as Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and Thelonious Monk. Unlike the earlier big bands, these musicians utilized smaller combos and created music less suitable for dancing. Bebop songs typically begin with a melodic "head" but are dominated by extended solo improvisation over a set chord structure. The emphasis is placed on harmonic exploration rather than the catchy melodies of Swing and Big Band. Initially outside the mainstream of Jazz, bebop is now one of its most popular and well-known forms. Last.fm | /r/Bebop | Wikipedia
Charlie Parker - Yardbird Suite Pretty much any Charlie Parker album is going to be a bebop album (except for his stuff with strings, which you should avoid at all costs). In particular, Yardbird Suite is one of his masterpieces. Listen on: Rdio | Spotify
Miles jumped around a lot, so look for him as a sideman on a Parker album.
Dexter Gordon's early work is bebop.
Anything by Bud Powell, pretty much.
Sonny Stitt. Early Max Roach.
Early Pat Martino is really post-bop, but very bebop influenced.
Listen to Art Tatum's solo work to get a good sense of where bebop came from.
Sax players Art Pepper, Stan Getz, and Gerry Mulligan's work from late 40s and early 50s was bebop, but they also turned it a little looser and more melodic at times, while still keeping up the driving rhythms.
Hard Bop[]
Art Blakey
A subgenre of Bebop that emerged in the mid-1950s and remained popular through the '60s. Hard bop was pioneered by Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers who brought in influences from Rhythm & Blues and Gospel. Thus the music tends to have blues-inflected melodies, and its development was in part an attempt to produce a more danceable form of bebop. The style was adopted and expanded in the mid-'50s to early '60s by artists such as Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and Sonny Rollins. Last.fm | Wikipedia
A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with playing jazz music and which became popular during the Swing Era from the early 1930s until the late 1940s. A big band typically consists of approximately 12 to 25 musicians and contains saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. The terms jazz band, jazz ensemble, stage band, jazz orchestra, and dance band are also used to refer to this type of ensemble. This does not, however, mean that each one of these names is technically correct for naming a ‘big band” specifically.
There are two distinct periods in the history of popular bands. Beginning in the mid-1920s, big bands, then typically consisting of 10–25 pieces, came to dominate popular music. At that time they usually played a sweet form of jazz that involved very little improvisation, which included a string section with violins, which was dropped after the introduction of swing in 1935. The dance form of jazz was characterized by a sweet and romantic melody. Orchestras tended to stick to the melody as it was written and vocals would be sung sweetly (often in a tenor voice) and in tune with the melody. Last.fm | Wikipedia
Notable artists: Cab Calloway, Glenn Miller, Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, Count Basie, Louis Prima, Jimmy Dorsey, Artie Shaw, Woody Herman
Also know as Progressive Jazz, groups playing progressive big band maintained the 10+ member ensembles of traditional Big Band, but instead of making dance-oriented music the groups focused on heavier, more complex, modernistic arrangements that were designed for listening and performance rather than a night on the town. Stan Kenton is a key artist from the genre.
Progressive Big Band is not a synonym for Experimental Big Band. Although both styles allowed room for improvisational techniques, the progressive groups remained grounded in the traditional big-band ethos, pushing the envelope by tweaking around the fringes with elements of traditional western Western Classical Music music. Experimental groups, on the other hand, went a bit further afield, focusing on incorporating elements of Free Jazz and Modern Classical into the big-band format.
British Dance Band[]
A peculiarly British genre that came from the dancehalls of the 1920s and 1930s, combining a British take on Jazz with the Music Hall tradition.
Bulawayo Jazz[]
Hugh Tracey
Bulawayo jazz is a style of jazz that emerged from the city of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe in the early 1950s. The lead is assured by the alto sax in ensembles including tenor sax, trumpet, guitars, double bass, tubas and trombones.
Bulawayo jazz has been brought in the occidental world by Hugh Tracey, who recorded the material of Bulawayo Jazz: Southern Rhodesia, Zimbawbe 1950, '51, '52 in the early 1950s.
A prominent Zimbabwean jazz player from the 1950s was August Msarurgwa. Msarurgwa was the leader of The African Dance Band of the Cold Storage Commission of Southern Rhodesia and composed the hit "Skokiaan". This may be the most well-known Bulawayo jazz song and has been covered by such artists as Louis Armstrong, The Four Lads, Alma Cogan, Bill Haley and His Comets and Herb Alpert, among many others. Wikipedia
Chamber Jazz[]
Chamber jazz is Jazz made by small acoustic-based ensembles with emphasized improvisation and influenced by Neoclassicism, world music and the classical music of non-Western cultures, mainly South Asian Classical Music, Persian Classical Music, and East Asian Classical Music. AllMusic | Wikipedia
Cool Jazz[]
Miles Davis
Cool Jazz arose in the late 40s alongside, and in response to, the development of Bebop. In a counterpoint to the energetic, improvisational, 'fiery' style of Bop, Cool Jazz unfolds at a much mellower pace, with a subtle and restrained emotional 'coolness'. The soloing tends to be less frantic and improvised than that of other jazz styles, but often maintains a melodic and harmonic complexity. The controlled yet complex arrangements borrow from the ideas of 20th-century composers, and over time helped open up the even more classically influenced Third Stream style. Last.fm | Wikipedia
Notable artists: Miles Davis, Lennie Tristano and Dave Brubeck
Dark Jazz[]
Bohren & der Club of Gore
Dark Jazz is a form of Dark Ambient influenced slow tempo contemporary Jazz music. Dark atmosphere of this genre is inspired by Film Noir soundtracks, Ascenseur pour l'échafaud in general.
The most typical acts include Bohren & der Club of Gore and Swami Lateplate. /r/darkjazz/
Dixieland[]
Original Dixieland Jazz Band
Dixieland is one of the earliest styles of Jazz that developed in New Orleans in the 1910s. The term came from the name of the Original Dixieland Jazz Band who were one of the first ensembles in Jazz to publish an official commercial recording, to which the term was further used to describe all Jazz ensembles who played in this style including early Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton, Kid Ory and King Oliver.
Dixieland took influence from both Ragtime and early Blues music, mainly in structure and harmonic development. In contrast to later Jazz trends like Big Band that normally had a few designated soloists while others played accompanying roles, Dixieland usually had all instruments at some point take the role of soloist playing in an improvisatory manner with instruments normally trading accompaniment/solo roles in each recurring verse. There were often polyphonic sections, where each instrument would play their own melody whilst retaining the same harmony, sometimes sounding contrapuntal and cacophonous yet still maintaining consonance unlike the polyphonic sections in later forms of Jazz such as Bebop. Harmonic structures within Dixieland Jazz were often straightforward and easy to follow. Last.fm | Rate Your Music | Wikipedia
ECM Style Jazz[]
Tord Gustavsen
ECM style (also known as ECM jazz) is style of music in Jazz lineage that emerged in the mid-1970s and is associated with ECM Records (ECM stands for "Edition of Contemporary Music"). ECM style can be seen as creative reaction to Free Jazz (which was at that time seen as most forward-looking form of jazz), pursuing different elements of expression than the often violent and dissonant aesthetics of free jazz. Although ECM style have taken few cues from free jazz, it rather followed the way of Jazz Fusion. It has been partially influenced by restrained and subdued aesthetics of Cool Jazz and mainly by Third Stream in incorporating various compositional elements of Western Classical Music, though in lesser degree the avant-garde styles of Modern Classical. In addition to it ECM style compositions are often influenced by or even based on various Traditional Folk Music sources. Rate Your Music
Amongst the more contemporary artists representing this genre are Tord Gustavsen Trio, Arve Henriksen or Nik Bärtsch.
Ethio-Jazz[]
Hugh Masekela
A fusion of Jazz with traditional Ethiopian music.
Éthiopiques 27 volumes of music highlighting all kinds of Ethiopian music, though only some of those are actually dedicated to the Ethio-Jazz genre. Listen on Deezer-playlist | Rdio-playlist
Also known as "Jazz Manouche", a genre developed in France that combines Jazz with several aspects of Gypsy Music. Although many instrument lineups are possible, the guitar and violin are the most common solo instrument, standing starkly in contrast to typical Jazz, where saxophones, trumpets, etc. are far more common. Clarinet and accordion are also commonly used, and the rhythm guitar is often played with a percussive technique known as "la pompe", largely replacing the drums. Django Reinhardt is often credited with creating the genre. Last.fm | /r/gypsyjazz/ | Wikipedia
Notable artists: Django Reinhardt, Stéphane Grappelli, Quintette Du Hot Club De France, The Rosenberg Trio, Tchan Tchou Vidal
Gypsy Jazz Proper Records presents a four-CD, 97-track anthology devoted to music recorded during the golden years of Gypsy jazz, from swing to bop to a bit of the cool (1934-1956). Happily, this tradition is still very much alive, and the recordings compiled herein demonstrate why even Joseph Goebbels, Adolf Eichmann, and Heinrich Himmler couldn't stamp it out. In addition to classic sides by famous or relatively well-known artists like guitarist Django Reinhardt, violinists Stéphane Grappelli, Michel Warlop, and Svend Asmussen and crooner Jean Sablon, this fascinating collection traces the intricacies of the Gypsy jazz movement throughout mainland Europe with rare recordings by members of the Reinhardt and Ferret families as well as accordionists Gus Viseur and Tony Murena, saxophonist Albert Ferreri, reedman and violinist Frans Poptie, and a veritable swarm of guitarists including Oscar Aleman, Jean Bonal, Eddy Christiani, Jean-Pierre Sasson, and Henri Crolla. Given this set's wealth of variegated material and its remarkably affordable price tag, Proper may well have come up with the world's best all-purpose, authentic Gypsy jazz collection. It more or less picks up where the Fremeaux & Associes 2005 release Django Reinhardt Complete, Vol. 20: Pour Que Ma Vie left off. Listen on: Deezer | Rdio | Spotify
Jazz Fusion is a style of music derived from Jazz, incorporating elements of different musical traditions: the electric sound and the riffs of Rock music, the rhythms of Rhythm & Blues and Funk, the elaborate compositions of Classical Music, and various forms of worldwide Folk music traditions, are gathered in a jazzy environment of highly complex improvisation and experimentation, following the movement of Avant-Garde Jazz of the 50s and 60s. Instruments such as electric guitars and keyboards become commonly used. Last.fm | Wikipedia
Notable artists: Miles Davis, Frank Zappa, John McLaughlin, Larry Coryell and Soft Machine
Latin Jazz[]
Latin jazz is the general term given to music that combines rhythms from African and Latin American countries with jazz and classical harmonies from Latin America, the Caribbean, Europe and the United States. Last.fm | Wikipedia
Afro-Cuban jazz[]
Eddie Palmieri
Mario Bauzá
Afro-Cuban jazz is an early form of Latin jazz that mixes Afro-Cuban rhythms with harmonies and musical timbre typical of Bebop. It was developed in the early 1940s by both Cuban musicians and Jazz musicians, with Dizzy Gillespie, Mario Bauza, Machito and Stan Kenton among some of the most notable contributors. The style was originally called “Cubop”. The original musical development largely took place in North America rather than Cuba itself, as Cuban musicians toured in New Orleans and other North American cities. Last.fm | Wikipedia
Notable artists: Eddie Palmieri, Mario Bauzá
Afro-Brazilian Jazz[]
A genre developed in Brazil in the early 1960s that presents a synthesis of Bossa Nova and the rhythms of Samba with American Jazz, particularly Bebop and Cool Jazz. RateYourMusic | Wikipedia
Marabi[]
Abdullah Ibrahim
Marabi is a Jazz and Southern African Popular Music style with origins in the 1920s. This genre came to existence in the ghettos and the shebeens of Johannesburg and is rooted in traditional South African music. The formerly simplistic organ and piano style (resembling Ragtime to a certain extent, and often accompanied by different percussion instruments and later on also played by reeds) was brought to a larger audience and taken to a higher artistic level by artists such as Abdullah Ibrahim, Johnny Dyani, Basil Coetzee, The African Jazz Pioneers, Miriam Makeba (early period) and others. This sound came to prominence as it was used as a form of protest against the exploitation of the people of South Africa. From a more Swing-based Marabi combined with Zulu and Xhosa cultures emerged Kwela and Mbaqanga. These made the international popularity of Marabi music genres increase respectively in the 1950s and the 1960s. Last.fm | Wikipedia
This sound from South Africa emerged from Marabi in the early 1950s. Kwela is rooted in Malawi and local South African traditional music such as Zulu music, and is influenced by Jazz as well. The four bar themes get repeated and mildly varied. The happy melodies of Kwela are mostly played by different flutes such as pennywhistle flutes and are often accompanied by banjo or guitar. Kwela became popular in Malawi as well and was prominent worldwide in the 1950s. The most significant artists are South African Lemmy "Special" Mabaso and Spokes Mashiyane, Malawian Donald Kachamba, as well as South African Elias & His Zig Zag Jive Flutes who performed in 1958 the internationally famous song Tom Hark. Last.fm | Wikipedia
Mbaqanga is a popular Zulu genre of South African music, that emerged from the traditional Marabi Jazz and Swing as well as Kwela popular South African genres. Mbaqanga is much more based on Big Band Swing. It appeared in the early 1960s from South African shebeens. Like Kwela, Mbaqanga has rural Zulu roots and continues to influence musicians worldwide today. The early prominent Mbaqanga artists were Makgona Tsohle Band, Mahlathini and Mahotella Queens, Sipho Mchunu accompanied by Johnny Clegg with Juluka band. Today this genre is less active although Mahotella Queens reduced to three members are still performing. Last.fm | Wikipedia
A style of Jazz that utilizes musical modes as harmonic framework over traditionally used chord progressions. It took its start in the late 1950s when artists such as George Russell began experimentation with a modal approach to their music. Since then, some of the most well known jazz artists began using modal progressions in their music, including John Coltrane, Miles Davis, and Herbie Hancock. Modal jazz is often cited as a precursor to Avant-Garde Jazz. Last.fm | Wikipedia
Essential Compilations[]
Spiritual Jazz
Spiritual Jazz - Esoteric, Modal And Deep Jazz From The Underground 1968-77 Spiritual Jazz — music that is a snapshot of the era after Coltrane, a time which saw the evolution of an underground jazz that spoke about the reform of the soul, the reform of the spirit, and the reform of society: a music which was local and international at once, which was a personal journey and a political statement, and which was religious and secular in one non-contradictory breath. The series consists of three volumes. Listen on: Deezer | Rdio | Spotify
Smooth Jazz[]
George Benson
Smooth Jazz is an outgrowth of the Jazz Fusion style, beginning in the late '60s. The sound is almost entirely built around a simple and repeating melody taking the forefront (soprano saxophone being the common lead), and backed by (often synthesized) Funk, Pop, or Rhythm & Blues rhythms. Soloing and improvisations are practically non-existent, as the music is meant to be as pleasant and easily absorbed as possible. Often considered a derisive term, Smooth Jazz is somewhat synonymous with 'muzak' or 'elevator music', and is closely related to Adult Contemporary and Sophisti-Pop for its common theme of remaking popular songs into the Smooth Jazz style. George Benson and Pat Metheny were early popularizers of the style. Last.fm | Wikipedia
Stride[]
James P. Johnson
Stride is a style of early piano music that evolved from Ragtime. Often faster and more complex than Ragtime, Stride Piano can also be seen as one of the most popular early forms of Jazz, developing its style later on to include improvisation, blue notes, and more advanced swing rhythms. James P. Johnson is known as the “Father of Stride Piano”. Last.fm | Wikipedia
Swing music began in the 1920s, with its prime era between 1935-1945, and was one of the most popular styles of American music until shortly after World War Two. Swing Jazz relies on a larger backing rhythm section (comprised of drums, guitar, bass (stand-up or electric), piano or organ, and sometimes a tuba, in varying groupings) than other Jazz styles. This lays the groundwork for the 'lead' section, usually including brass (e.g. trombone, trumpet) and woodwinds (e.g. saxophone, clarinet). Creative and intricate soloing takes the fore on the bandleaders instrument of choice, giving each song its particular character. Swing is an up-tempo music that is highly danceable, its most famous dance perhaps being the Jitterbug. Swing enjoyed a brief but powerful revival during the late 90s, and its well-known original artists such as Louis Armstrong, Tommy Dorsey, and Count Basie remain popular to this day among Jazz enthusiasts. Last.fm | Wikipedia
Swing Revival, also known as Neoswing, was a period of renewed interest in the Swing and Jump Blues music styles of the thirties and forties that occurred around the turn of the millennium. Rather than being a direct copy, however, the scene incorporated elements of other genres, such as Rockabilly, Ska and Punk Rock. Last.fm | Wikipedia
Essential Compilations[]
Third Stream[]
Charles Mingus
A term coined by conductor Gunther Schuller, who showed various interests in Jazz within his own music, Third Stream is essentially a blending of Jazz and Western Classical Music. Improvisation, which is very rare in Classical Music, is often a key element in Third Stream music. Charles Mingus, Moondog, and Bill Evans are some of the most notable artists in the genre. Last.fm | Wikipedia
Essential Compilations[]
Record Labels[]
Blue Note Records Originally dedicated to recording traditional jazz and small group swing, from 1947 the label began to switch its attention to modern jazz. While the original company did not itself record many of the pioneers of bebop, significant exceptions are Thelonious Monk, Fats Navarro and Bud Powell.
Historically, Blue Note has principally been associated with the "hard bop" style of jazz (mixing bebop with other forms of music including soul, blues, rhythm and blues and gospel). Horace Silver, Jimmy Smith, Freddie Hubbard, Lee Morgan, Art Blakey, Lou Donaldson, Donald Byrd, Grant Green, Hank Mobley and Freddie Redd were among the label's leading artists. Releases on Rdio | RYM
Tzadik Started by John Zorn: "Tzadik is dedicated to releasing the best in avant garde and experimental music, presenting a worldwide community of contemporary musician-composers who find it difficult or impossible to release their music through more conventional channels." releases
Free the Music Free Improvisation, Free Jazz, Avant-garde, Experimental, Noise, and others ...
FREE FORM, FREE JAZZ improvised music, jazz anarchy, new thing, abstract jazz, instant composition, out jazz, aleatory music, modern free, avant-garde jazz, fire music, intuitive music, free improvisation, action jazz, noise, jazzcore, creative improvised music, música especulativa. FREE THE JAZZ!!!
Inconstant Sol The emphasis has been on the free/improv/experimental side of jazz, but with excursions into contemporary and classical music, from Europe and beyond.
