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What is jazz music?
“Jazz is a word they use to sell our music, but to me that word does not exist.”—John Coltrane
Before we dive into the music known as “jazz,” it’s imperative to first cover the origin of this music and the word itself—it’s just four letters, but it’s loaded with history, struggle, brilliance, and distortion. As the quote from the great John Coltrane states, jazz was a label slapped on a sound to sell records. But, the music itself? That came from somewhere far deeper.
Jazz is Black American music. Full stop. It developed in the American South in the early 20th century in New Orleans, where African rhythms, spirituals, the blues, and work songs collided with European harmony and instruments. From its inception, this music was (and is) a response to oppression and a celebration of survival.
At its core, jazz is freedom inside a structure. It’s an individual expression inside a collective. That tension mirrors the Black experience in America: trying to carve out humanity and identity in systems built to erase both. From its beginnings, this music has both been shaped and has shaped the cultural and political landscapes of the United States. It has been a soundtrack for protest and for joy, but it has also been commodified and whitewashed. As the music moved into the mainstream, the work of Black creators has been often sidelined and / or stripped of context.
Today, this music is global and constantly evolving. You can hear it in concert halls, sampled on platinum records, at 3 a.m. sessions in the West Village, and on #jazztok. And, as it has become more global over the past decades, the genre has experienced a notable resurgence in popular culture.
But, no matter how far it travels, it’s critical to understand that its roots are in Black American culture.
So yes, I’m using the word here—not because I particularly like it, but because it’s a term that most people know. I use it here because it remains the most widely-recognized word for this music and its legacy, even as I acknowledge that the term itself has been used to obscure, commodify, and contain something far deeper and more expansive.
A brief history of jazz music
Ragtime and New Orleans jazz
As stated above, the origins of jazz began in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in the American South, specifically New Orleans, where African rhythms, work songs, and spirituals melded with Western harmony.
Ragtime, which was at its height from ~1890 – 1910, was an early form of this merging and was popularized by artists like Scott Joplin. From there and into the early 1920s, the New Orleans style of jazz emerged, often commercially referred to as Dixieland. This music was popularized by musicians like King Oliver, Sidney Bechet, and, most notably, Louis Armstrong. It often featured collective improvisation in the frontline from clarinet, trombone, and trumpet/cornet voices.
With the Great Migration, Black communities moved north, and cities like New York and Chicago became key epicenters for the evolution of jazz.
Swing era
In the 1930s and ’40s, jazz really became the popular music of the day in America through the rise of big band and swing music. The music was marked by a shift from small group improvisation to music that was arranged for large ensembles with tight orchestration (while leaving space for soloists).
Swing was and still is dance music, and was played from nightclubs and ballrooms to radio stations across the country. Fletcher Henderson, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, and Billie Holiday were some of the most notable and impactful innovators during this era.
Bebop
The early / mid 1940s through the ’50s marked a defining moment in the evolution of Black American music with the development of bebop, music that moved away from being danceable and entertaining and shifted towards being more for listening and pushing boundaries. Bebop was characterized by fast tempos, intricate melodies, complex harmonies, unpredictable phrasing, and virtuosic playing. The music was performed in small groups—mainly quartets and quintets—and laid the groundwork for jazz’s upcoming decades.
Some of the key artists who shaped bebop were saxophonist Charlie Parker, trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, pianists Bud Powell and Thelonious Monk, drummer Max Roach, and trumpeter Miles Davis (in his early years).
Cool jazz
In the 1950s, albums like Miles Davis’ Birth of Cool ushered in a sound that maintained the harmonic complexity of bebop, but with a softer sound that was more relaxed, slower in tempo, and placed a stronger emphasis on tone and mood. Another key component was the way this era often featured counterpoint, arranged sections, and more pronounced classical influences.
Other key artists in addition to Miles Davis on the East Coast included Gil Evans, Lee Konitz, Gerry Mulligan, and Stan Getz, and on the West Coast, artists like Dave Brubeck, Paul Desmond, Art Pepper, and Shelly Manne.
Hard bop
In the mid 1950s, hard bop—a soulful, emotional, and more raw form of bebop—emerged in New York and Philadelphia and reconnected jazz to its roots in the blues, Black Church music, and rhythm & blues. Some of the key components of its sound include groove-heavy drumming, driving rhythms, and more of an emphasis on melodic improvisation and call-and-response.
Artists who defined this sound include Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers, John Coltrane, Hank Mobley, Lee Morgan, Clifford Brown, Cannonball Adderley, Shirley Scott, Horace Silver, and Sonny Rollins.
Bossa nova
Concurrently, in the late 1950s, a Brazilian-born genre, bossa nova, introduced a new rhythmic language that blended samba with the harmonic richness of jazz. Artists like João Gilberto, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Luiz Bonfá, and Astrud Gilberto were some of the prominent figures of this era. The collaboration in 1964 between Stan Getz, Jobim, João Gilberto, and Astrud Gilberto on the Getz/Gilberto album vaulted bossa nova to a global phenomenon.
Free jazz / avante-garde jazz
Free jazz and avante-garde jazz began developing in the late 1950s as well. This music broke away from the constraints of bebop and hard bop and departed from the typical structures of swing, and could be characterized by open improvisation, sometimes dissonant and chaotic.
Some of the key artists within this sound included Ornette Coleman, John Coltrane (in his late period), Cecil Taylor, Pharoah Sanders, Sun Ra, Alice Coltrane, and Archie Shepp.
Post bop
In the mid 1960s through the ’70s, post bop built on hard bop by absorbing elements of modal, free, and avant-garde jazz and moving away from strict forms and predictable harmonic structures. This era and sound is characterized by more abstract forms, exploratory harmony, and unusual time signatures.
The music from Miles Davis and his second great quintet was a key part of this sound, along with the music of Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Freddie Hubbard, McCoy Tyner, Charles Tolliver, and Joe Henderson.
Fusion
In the late 1960s through the ’70s, fusion was perhaps the boldest divergence from tradition with the embrace of electronic instruments, studio production, and elements from rock, funk, and global music. Miles Davis’ Bitches Brew ushered in this era, and artists like Weather Report, Herbie Hancock, Return to Forever, and Mahavishu Orchestra helped push the boundaries of this sound.
Young Lions
The Young Lions era spanned from the early 1980s through the mid to late ’90s and was marked by a return to tradition. It refocused jazz around acoustic instruments, classic jazz combos, swing, blues, and bebop language, and a reverence for the Great American Songbook and standard.
Trumpeter Wynton Marsalis is one of the most notable figures in ushering in this era, and some of the other key artists included Branford Marsalis, Terence Blanchard, Jeff “Tain” Watts, Joshua Redman, Cassandra Wilson, and Roy Hargrove.
2000s
From my perspective, in the 2000s, jazz became less about a single movement and more about a cross pollination of many genres coupled with the rise of independent artists empowered with more digital tools for discovery (Myspace, blogs, YouTube, etc.). There are so many artists who emerged and defined this era, including Robert Glasper, Esperanza Spalding, Gretchen Parlato, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Brad Mehldau, Aaron Parks, and Brian Blade.
Today
The 2000s laid the foundation for the post-genre, global, digital, and fiercely personal landscape that we are experiencing today. It’s a decentralized, global genre with vibrant scenes stretching from New York City to Seoul to Johannesburg to London.
Across this landscape, there’s an ever-growing community of distinct voices defining, redefining, and evolving this sound every day. Young artists like Immanuel Wilkins, Nubya Garcia, Joel Ross, Brandee Younger, Samara Joy, Caity Gyorgy, Stella Cole, and Laufey are driving a jazz resurgence by blending tradition with contemporary influence and connecting with Gen Z and Gen Alpha audiences through digital platforms.
Characteristics of jazz music
Some of the main characteristics of jazz from a sonic perspective include:
- Improvisation: This is a core element of jazz and refers to the way that musicians spontaneously create melody, harmony, and rhythms in real time and in reaction to what the rest of the ensemble is playing.
- Swing: This is a distinctive style that makes the music feel fluid and bouncy. Not all jazz music “swings,” but often musicians play with a swing articulation.
- Call-and-response: This is a technique and dialogue between instruments or voices where there’s a musical statement followed by a musical answer. This echoes the Black music traditions that shaped the music.
- Syncopation: This is a rhythmic approach where the accented beats occur on the parts of a measure that aren’t expected or where one would typically hear them. This approach helps create tension and drives momentum forward.
- Harmonic richness: This describes the frequent use of extended chords, altered chords, and scales and chord progressions that are more sophisticated and go beyond traditional harmony. The result is a more colorful sound.
- Form: While the song form in jazz is flexible and alters from traditional song structures, a common broad approach used is “head in, solos, head out.” Essentially, this is where the melody is first played, and then the musicians solo, and then the melody is played once more to end the song.
Instruments used in jazz music
These are some of the most common instruments used in jazz:
Brass instruments
- Trumpet
- Flugelhorn
- Trombone
- Tuba
Woodwind instruments
- Flute
- Clarinet
- Bass clarinet
- Soprano saxophone
- Alto saxophone
- Tenor saxophone
- Baritone saxophone
Percussion instruments
- Piano
- Drums and cymbals
- Vibraphone
String instruments
- Upright bass
- Electric bass
- Acoustic guitar
- Electric guitar
What is a rhythm section in jazz?
The rhythm section in jazz refers to the piano, bass, drums, guitar, and vibraphone. There are many different iterations and combinations of these instruments as a section. The most common is piano, bass, and drums.
Types of jazz ensembles
While there are many different types of jazz ensembles, here are some of the most common:
- Piano trio: Piano, upright bass, and drums—sometimes alternatively piano, upright bass, and guitar.
- Jazz combo: Usually a quartet, quintet, or sextet comprised of piano, upright bass, and drums, combined with one or more horn players (trumpet / saxophone / trombone).
- Big band: A large ensemble typically comprised of 16 – 20 musicians. There are usually four trumpet players, four trombone players, five saxophonists (one baritone, two tenors, and two altos) who can double on clarinet and flute, a pianist, a drummer, a bassist, a guitarist, and a vibraphonist.
Subgenres of jazz music
Earlier, we really only scratched the surface of some of the key subgenres while discussing the history and origins of the music. Each of these has a rich and deep history within the broader context of jazz. Some of the key subgenres within jazz include:
- Ragtime
- Dixieland
- Swing / big band
- Vocal jazz
- Bebop
- Cool jazz
- Bossa nova
- Hard bop
- Post bop
- Free / avante-garde jazz
- Fusion
- Young Lions
- Acid jazz
How to get started making jazz music
It might sound overly simple, but the best way to start making and playing jazz is to listen to the music. Be curious. If a part of this article piqued your interest, start to pull at that thread. In my opinion, to be able to create this music, you must immerse yourself in it fully.
Jazz is a genre that’s constantly evolving, but part of contributing to its evolution is to first understand where it started and the many shapes that it has taken over the past century.
If you’d like to explore some of jazz’s sonic building blocks that you can incorporate into your own music, here are some hand-picked samples to start with on Splice Sounds. For more, be sure to also explore the dedicated genre page.
Dive into the sonic building blocks of jazz:
June 8, 2025
