jazz
genresjaz
An American music genre characterized by improvisation, swing rhythms, and blue notes.
Jazz originated in New Orleans in the early 20th century, born from African-American musical traditions including blues, ragtime, spirituals, and the brass band tradition. Its defining characteristics are improvisation, swing rhythm, syncopation, and a harmonic language that embraces extended chords, altered scales, and blue notes. A jazz ensemble typically features a rhythm section (piano, bass, drums) supporting soloists on saxophone, trumpet, or other instruments.
From its New Orleans roots, jazz evolved through swing (big bands led by Duke Ellington and Count Basie), bebop (Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk), cool jazz (Miles Davis, Dave Brubeck), hard bop, free jazz (Ornette Coleman, John Coltrane), and fusion. The jazz standard — a well-known composition used as a vehicle for improvisation — forms the core repertoire, collected in the Real Book. Jazz influenced virtually every genre that followed, from soul and funk to hip-hop and electronic music.
The word jazz has no definitive etymology. Theories range from a Creole slang term to a West African word to a corruption of the name Charles — nobody knows for certain.