There Are Over Two Dozen Different Forms of Jazz Music

Jazz music is a rich and varied genre, with over two dozen different sub-forms. In this blog post, we explore some of the most popular types of jazz, from bebop to fusion.

Introduction to Jazz

Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities in the late 19th and early 20th century. It is characterized by swing and blue notes, call and response vocals, polyrhythms and improvisation. Jazz has roots in West African cultural and musical expression, and in African-American music traditions including blues and ragtime.

What is Jazz?

Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, United States. It originated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and developed from roots in blues and ragtime. Jazz is seen by many as “America’s classical music”. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, jazz has become recognized as a major form of musical expression. It then emerged in the form of independent traditional and popular musical styles, all linked by the common bonds of African-American and European-American musical parentage with a performance orientation. Jazz is characterized by swing and blue notes, call and response vocals, polyrhythms and improvisation. Jazz has roots in West African cultural and musical expressions, and in African-American music traditions including blues and ragtime.

Where did Jazz come from?

Jazz originated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in African American communities in the Southern United States. Its roots come from a mix of European military band music and West African folk music. Jazz has been described as “the only original American art form”.

The earliest form of Jazz was Dixieland, which developed in New Orleans around 1900. Other important early styles of Jazz included Ragtime, Brookings, and New Orleans Jazz. Swing, developed in the 1930s and 1940s, was the first truly popular style of Jazz. Bebop, developed in the mid-1940s, was an important step forward for Jazz as it moved away from easy listening towards more complex harmonic structures.

Today, there are over two dozen different forms of Jazz music, each with its own unique history, Influences, and characters.

The Different Forms of Jazz

Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It is considered to be a form of art music that originated from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, blues, and polyrhythmic African drumming. Jazz is characterized by swing and blue notes, call and response vocals, polyrhythms and improvisation.

Bebop

Bebop is a form of jazz developed in the early and mid-1940s. It combines elements of swing music and blues to create a fast-paced, electrifying sound. Bebop is characterized by its complex harmonic structure, speedy tempo, and innovative solos. Musicians who pioneered this style include Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie.

Big Band

One of the most popular forms of jazz music, big band features a large ensemble of musicians playing horns, woodwinds, rhythm instruments, and vocals. The style originated in the early 20th century and was developed by artists such as Duke Ellington and Benny Goodman. Big bands typically perform in concert halls or dance venues, although some smaller groups may play in smaller clubs.

Cool Jazz

Cool jazz is a subgenre of jazz that emerged in the early to mid-1950s. It featured a more restrained approach to improvisation and composition, and was influenced by classical music and other genres such as pop. Cool jazz was popularized by artists such as Miles Davis, Chet Baker, and Dave Brubeck.

Hard Bop

One of the first and most popular forms of jazz, Hard Bop is a style that developed in the mid-1950s as a reaction to the complicated harmonies and fast tempos of Bebop jazz. Hard Bop is characterized by a strong rhythm section, melodic bass lines, and simple – but often blues-based – melodies.

While Bebop was known for its soloists, Hard Bop returned the focus to the band as a whole. This new form of jazz was also influenced by Gospel, Rhythm and Blues, and even Hip Hop music. Some of the most famous Hard Bop musicians include Miles Davis, Horace Silver, Art Blakey, and Cannonball Adderley.

Modal Jazz

Modal jazz is a type of jazz that uses modes rather than chord progressions as the basis for improvisation and composition. The modal jazz movement began in the 1950s with Miles Davis’s album “Kind of Blue”, which featured modal standards such as “So What” and “All Blues”.

Other important modal jazz recordings include John Coltrane’s “My Favorite Things” and “Impressions”, Miles Davis’s “Sketches of Spain” and Wayne Shorter’s “Speak No Evil”. Modal jazz can be seen as a reaction against the complex harmonic progressions of bebop and hard bop, as well as the style’s disregard for traditional tonality. Instead, modal jazz relies on the repetition of basic modes (such as Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, and Mixolydian) to create a feeling of forward motion. This approach often results in a more relaxed sound than other types of jazz.

Fusion

Fusion is a style of jazz music that was developed in the late 1960s. It is a blend of two or more different styles of music, including jazz, rock, and funk. Fusion music is often characterized by its use of electric instruments, such as the electric guitar, electric bass, and keyboard.

Smooth Jazz

Smooth jazz is a genre of music that emerged in the mid-1970s in the United States. It blended elements of jazz, R&B, and pop music, and was often characterized by a laid-back ambiance or mellow tone. Smooth jazz became popular in radio format in the 1980s and 1990s, with artists such as Grover Washington Jr., Kenny G, and David Sanborn becoming household names.

Latin Jazz

Latin jazz is a genre of jazz with Latin American rhythms. Although musicians continually expand its parameters, the term Latin jazz is generally recognized to have a more specific meaning than simply “jazz from Latin America”. Latin jazz incorporates rhythms and percussion instruments of Africa and Europe, notably the cajón, conga, timbale, clave, bombo legüero and tresillo. In addition to the Afro-Cuban mambo and cha-cha-cha, forms such as descarga (jam session), songo, Afro-Brazilian samba and bossa nova are often included under the moniker.

Pioneers of Latin jazz included Machito and his sister Graciela, Tito Puente, Mongo Santamaria, Piloto and Vanilla, Lecuona Cuban Boys, Mario Bauzá and his orchestra with Chano Pozo. Conguero Armando Peraza was a member of Woody Herman’s Third Herd while Chico O’Farrill led big bands on both sides of the Atlantic that played this music. Horace Silver’s “Serenade to a Soul Brother”, Dizzy Gillespie’s “Manteca” (co-written with Chano Pozo) and Charlie Parker’s “Mango Mangue” are examples of early Latin jazz recordings. Parker’s “Now’s the Time” (1951) has been described as “pointing the way towards Afro-Cuban melodic motifs not unlike those employed in songs by Machito in the forties”. Kenny Dorham’s subtly titled 1956 African Waltz (Riverside/Milestone) was an early example of continental drift in this regard – it included contributions from alto saxophonist Lou Donaldson who employs African thumb piano patterns on one track (“Minor Mood”) while Dorham digs deeper into Peruvian roots with his own arrangement of Alberto Zavanella’s bossa nova classic “El Cumbanchero”.

Conclusion

Jazz is a genre of music that is complex and often hard to define. There are many different types of jazz, ranging from the early blues-based styles to the more modern and experimental forms. The type of jazz you enjoy will probably depend on your personal taste, but it is worth exploring all the different styles to find the music that speaks to you.