Genres
12 terms
Bebop
Bebop is the 1940s jazz revolution: fast tempos, complex harmonies, and virtuosic improvisation made for listening, not dancing.
Boogie-woogie
Boogie-woogie is a spirited piano blues style with a characteristic “rolling” left-hand bass; a forerunner of rock'n'roll.
Jazz
Jazz is a musical genre that emerged from African-American culture in New Orleans at the start of the 20th century.
Gypsy Jazz
Gypsy jazz is an acoustic jazz style created by the guitarist Django Reinhardt in 1930s Paris.
Jazz Fusion
Jazz fusion is the fusion of jazz improvisation with the electricity, rhythms, and sound of rock and funk (from the late 1960s).
Dixieland
Dixieland is the early New Orleans jazz of the early 20th century, with collective improvisation and a festive, spirited sound.
Cool Jazz
Cool jazz is the restrained, lyrical style of the late 1940s–50s, a response to feverish bebop.
Modal Jazz
Modal jazz is a style of jazz built on modes rather than fast chord changes; its summit is “Kind of Blue.”
Ragtime
Ragtime is the syncopated piano style of the turn of the 20th century, the first mass African-American genre and the direct ancestor of jaz…
Swing
Swing is the big-band-era style of jazz (1930s–40s), the music of dance halls with a springy, “swinging” rhythm.
