jazz: Jazz Since the 1990s

A wide variety of music and artists have continued to perform and update traditional jazz styles, while new hybrid forms including jazz-rap and jazz-punk, have also arisen. World music influences have also been important in the work of artists like pianist Vijay Iyer and singer/composer Norah Jones. Other notable new performers include bassist Esperanza Spaulding, vocalists Dee Dee Bridgewater and Regina Carter, pianist Brad Mehldau and Jason Moran, guitarists Kurt Rosenwinkel and Frisell, trumpeters Roy Hargrove and Terence Blanchard, and saxophonists Chris Potter and Joshua Redman.

Jazz artists in America have suffered much and received little. In many cases the misery of their lives and public indifference have driven them to find relief in drugs and alcohol. Despite hardships they have produced a richly varied art form in which improvisation and experimentation are imperative; jazz promises continued growth in directions as yet unforeseeable.

Sections in this article:

• Introduction
• Jazz Since the 1990s
• Jazz Goes International
• The 1970-'80s: From Smooth Jazz to the Neo-Cons
• The 1960s: From Free Jazz to Jazz-Rock Fusion
• Jazz in the '50s
• Bop
• Swing
• New Orleans Jazz
• Ragtime
• Blues
• Origins of Jazz

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2024, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

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