Jazz is a genre of music that originated in African American
communities during the late 19th and early 20th century. It emerged in many
parts of the United States in the form of independent popular musical styles,
all linked by the common bonds of African American and European American
musical parentage with a performance orientation. Jazz spans a period of
over 100 years and encompasses a range of music from ragtime to the present
day, and has proved to be very difficult to define. Jazz makes heavy use of
improvisation, polyrhythms, syncopation and the swung note, as well as
aspects of European harmony, American popular music, the brass band
tradition, and African musical elements such as blue notes and ragtime. The
birth of Jazz in the multicultural society of America has led intellectuals
from around the world to hail Jazz as "one of America's original art
forms".
Acid Jazz
Avant-Garde Jazz Big Band Blue Note Contemporary Jazz Cool Crossover Jazz |
Dixieland
Ethio-jazz Fusion Bebop Hard Bop Latin Jazz Mainstream Jazz |
Ragtime
Smooth Jazz Trad Jazz |