Jazz Fusion

Jazz fusion was one of the later forms of jazz. It involved taking jazz and another type of music and fusing them together. Classical music, folk and traditional music were popular choices for jazz fusion. This style of music opened up  a whole new channel for jazz musicians. The following video is a sample of jazz fusion with classical music, Beethoven's famous Moonlight Sonata.

Jazz version of Moonlight Sonata

Cool Jazz, Free Jazz and Fusion

The later main forms of jazz that led to the styles used today were, Cool Jazz, Free Jazz and Fusion.
Miles Davis

Theolonius Monk

Cool Jazz: Cool Jazz followed the Bebop era, becoming popular in the 1940's. After the chaotic rhthyms and melody lines in bop music jazz musicians began experimenting with slower, more relaxed styles of jazz. This was called Cool Jazz, for the relaxed and pensive feel to the music. Jazz was now beginnig to loose its African feel as it was being "diluted" with every genreation of jazz musicans that were born and raised in Americ. This made Cool Jazz very popular with white musicans, keeping in mind that racism was still alive and well at this time. Cool Jazz intorduced us to performers such as the famous Miles Davis. the St. Louis trumpeter.

"Jazz is freedom. You think about that."

—Thelonius Monk

Free Jazz: Free jazz followed cool jazz. It was a different style of jazz music, not focusing on composition ion but on a strange abstract part of jazz involving a lot of improvisation that had not been explored before. It introduced us to famous jazz artists such as reknown pianist John Coltrane. Free Jazz was not as popular as the other types of jazz music when it first emerged. Unlike the other styles it did not follow patterns or melody lines that the ear would usually pick up on. It was in itself an entirely different form of jazz music. This link shows the John Coltrane Quartet who were known for their jree jazz music. When you listen to the piece it is clear that this is a completely different style of playing, for instance the melody line is almost all over the place and difficult to follow unlike music form the Bebop or Cool Jazz eras. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DM5Xa79ndmg&feature=related

Ragtime, Dixieland, Bebop and Swing

Ragtime, dixieland, bebop and swing were the earliest developments in jazz music. These styles introduced us to some of the greatest jazz legends of all time such as Scott Joplin and Louis Armstrong.

                                                                        The Entertainer- Scott Joplin

• Ragtime: This style of music was most popular during the late 1890's up until the early 1920's. It was famous for its syncopated or "ragged" rhythms. It was often played in march timing making it popular in parades and dances. Ragtime brought with it a huge range of composers and performers who were dedicated to developing this style. An example of this would be Scott Joplin, most famous for his ragtime pieces "The Maple Leaf Rag" and "The Entertainer".

• Dixieland: Dixieland music was introduced during the early 1910's. It was a fusion of improvistaion and ragtime marches. Musicians would make up melodys off the top of their heads and play them over the rhythm section of a piece. Often it was instruments such as the clarinet or the trumpet that improvised though on occassion the piano or guitar, for example, would do it as well. Louis Armstrong's All Stars were reknown for their contributions in this genre, though Armstrong's influences are found in almost all early jazz music.

• Swing: Swing music followed the dixieland era, becoming popular in the 1930's. It is famous for its lilting or "swing" rhythms. Percussion instruments such as the drums have a strong influence over the music. Improvisation was used more widely through the music during melody and rhythm sections alike. Swing was a very popular dance music, especially the music of swing performers such as Count Basie and Charlie Goodman. 
   Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald                                                                         Theolonius Monk         

Jazz music- Introduction and brief history

The first sounds of jazz music originated in New Orleans, Louisiana, America. To this day we still refer to New Orleans as "the birth place of jazz". However, the roots of jazz and the different elements that give jazz such a unique sound go right back to the African rhythms and European musical structures. 

During the 19th and 20th centuries, the black slave trade across the Atlantic was thriving. Rich white people would literally buy slaves to work for them cotton picking, farming etc. This was at a time when racism was a common thing, behavior that was accepted and almost encouraged in society. This meant that buying and selling African slaves was not only in demand but that it was legal. These slaves brought with them their traditional music and rhythms across the ocean and this introduced things such as syncopation (emphasis on the weak beat in a bar of music) and blues or jazzy notes which were naturally incorporated in their music due to the unique and natural rhythms of their native African languages.The slaves would sing work songs to pass the time and these songs At the beginning of the 20th century some of these black slaves learnt how to play European instruments such as the violin and incorporated this into their music. Slowly, a new form of music was beginning to emerge.

After the abolition of slavery, this style of African-American music became immensely popular. Members of the African-American society were often requested to play their music for events and occasions. All the while this style of music continued to develop into the basics of jazz music today. 

This early jazz was soon to develop further and branch off into different styles of music such as ragtime; bebop; swing; big band; free jazz and so much more.