Swing
Swing is a playful jazz, on which one dances, hence its immense popularity in the years 1935-45 and still today.
During this classical era, bands were essentially big bands of white musicians.
The peak of Swing lasted until 1941: the Second World War had condemned the Big Bands (many men were called to fight, and the state levied taxes on concerts).

Technically speaking…

After the polyphony of the New Orleans style, Swing returns to the soloist his predominant place, and the orchestra takes up a more classical form:
well-defined instrumental sections (trumpets, trombones, reeds, rhythmic), play music written to frame the soloist’s interventions: the notion of arrangement is born.
Moreover, the two-stroke rhythms are replaced by four-stroke measures.

Culturally speaking, it’s the heyday of jazz clubs

In addition to the rise of new media (radios, records), Swing is popularized by the flowering of ballrooms and jazz clubs.
Two great clubs in New York marked the Swing era: the Cotton Club and the Savoy Ballroom. They host the big bands of Duke Ellington (Take The A Train, Perdido, Solitude, Caravan), Count Basie (virtuoso pianist, Billie Holiday sings in her group), Cab Calloway (singer, dancer, and animator), or Benny Goodman (virtuoso clarinetist, nicknamed ‘The King of Swing’), Ella Fitzgerald, etc.

Swing allows Americans to clear their minds amid the economic crisis following the 1929 stock market crash.

In 1928, the orchestra of Duke Ellington made the beautiful evenings of the Cotton Club with the magazine The Blackberries of 1930. It is replaced by the orchestra of Cab Calloway (singer, dancer, and host), which is succeeded by an orchestra “for dancers only”, that of Jimmy Lunceford. At the Savoy, called home of happy feet (or the “house of joyful feet”), memorable musical jousts take place, like the one opposing the drummer Chick Webb’s orchestra—Ella Fitzgerald makes a promising debut in 1935 — to that of Benny Goodman. They also performed the great ensembles of pianists Earl Hines and Count Basie.

Info Jazz should not be confused with the “Swing” style of jazz, and the “swing” rhythmic pulsation specific to jazz.

We call ‘Middle Jazz’ the forms of jazz from the 1930s and 1940s, related to Swing, and located between ‘New Orleans’ and ‘Bebop’. Even today, Middle Jazz retains many followers.

Gypsy
Launched by the guitarist Django Reinhardt and the violinist Stéphane Grappelli, gypsy jazz is an unexpected mix of American swing from the thirties, French “musette”, and music from Eastern Europe.
Also called ‘jazz Manouche’, this style is characterized by lively cadences and catchy rhythms.

The main instruments are steel-string guitars (2 guitarists in general), and occasionally one or more violins.

Originally nostalgic and without scope, gypsy jazz is today a style appreciated worldwide.

Info Jazz: If he is one of the fathers of this style, Django Reinhardt rarely played pieces with “gypsy” tendencies. He essentially played with big bands, traditional swing orchestras, even bebop formations…

The gypsy jazz we hear today really took off in the 1970s and 1980s.

The main current representatives of the Manouche movement are the Rosenberg Trio, Angelo Debarre, and Bireli Lagrene.

Bebop
Historical context

Bebop emerged in the early 1940s, out of black people’s desire to save jazz from commercialization by white musicians at the end of the Swing era.

Among the pioneers, we can mention the alto saxophonist Charlie Parker, the trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, the pianist Thelonious Monk, and the guitarist Charlie Christian. It is during informal meetings, “jam sessions” in clubs on New York’s 52nd Street, that they shape the new style.

Characteristics of the Bebop

Until then, jazz improvisation derived from the melodic line. The boppers engage in improvisation in chords, often forgetting the melody after the first chorus. The soloist is free to explore all possibilities of improvisation as long as he respects the structure of the chords.

The formations are often limited to quintets or quartets: drums, double bass, piano, and more, trumpet or sax.

The melodies are enriched, and the harmonies are even imbued with classical music. The tempo is much faster than in previous styles.

The pianist abandons the heavy, rhythmic left-hand playing that characterized the “stride” to concentrate on the right hand.

The rhythm section becomes equal to the melodic section. The drummer moves to a much more focused approach on cymbals and snare, no longer necessarily pressing each beat as before.

Similarly, the double bass holds a more important place: it becomes an instrument in its own right, with improvised passages.

Finally, the playing of wind instruments is more syncopated.

Info Jazz Following the strike of the musicians’ union in 1942 and 1943-44, there remain few traces of the gestation of bebop.

Differing considerably from Swing, Bebop has moved away from dance music, becoming an artistic form in its own right but losing the general public’s adherence. Ironically, the Bebop, which was first intended as a return to the (black) origins of jazz, was the starting point for modern jazz.

Bebop is still alive today thanks to artists such as Chick Corea, Keith Jarret or Herbie Hancock. Its new forms are gathered under the name “Post-Bop”.

Vocalese
The art of composing lyrics and singing them like instrumental solos.

Contrary to the “scat” invented by Armstrong, where onomatopoeia are used rather than intelligible lyrics, the song is here based on texts supposed to stick as much as possible to the melody.

The performers sing solo or in a group and are accompanied by small groups.

The term “vocalese” was first used in 1959 by jazz critic Leonard Feather to describe the particular singing technique adopted by the vocal trio of Dave Lambert, Jon Hendricks, and Annie Ross.

But the real invention of the concept goes back to the very beginning of the 1950s with Eddie Jefferson, then King Pleasure, whose record “Moody’s Mood for Love” is considered the pillar of the genre.

Mainstream
The Mainstream began to make headlines in the 1950s.

It is both an ultimate evolution of the Bebop and a return to the basics of Swing by veterans such as Coleman Hawkins, Count Basie, or Duke Ellington.
Indeed, apart from the Big Bands, which have given way to smaller formations, we find many characteristics of Swing, such as the predominant role of the melody, and the ‘impeccable’ aspect of the game, even ‘ascepticized’, where the part of improvisation decreases.

In the 1960s, The Mainstream suffered a slowdown due to the emergence of other jazz currents and the disappearance of some “veterans”.
But since the 1970s, the arrival of new actors like saxophonist Scott Hamilton, cornettist Ruby Braff, or trumpeter Warren Vaché has relaunched the movement.

The terms “Modern Mainstream” or “Post Bop” are used for all jazz styles that cannot be assimilated into another historical style.

Info Jazz Some names of artists associated with Mainstream Jazz:

Ruby Braff
Buck Clayton
Count Basie
Benny Carter
Duke Ellington
Erroll Garner
Scott Hamilton
Coleman Hawkins
Oscar Peterson
Warren Vaché

Cool-Jazz
Direct heir of the Bop from the 50s, the Cool jazz is a mix of Bop and Swing tones, characterized by its softness and lightness, even its “mondain” side.

The arrangement regains importance. First nicknamed “West Coast Jazz” because of the many innovations coming from Los Angeles, Cool jazz developed on a national scale at the end of the 50s, with a stronger involvement of musicians and composers from the East Coast.

“Birth of the Cool” is the name of an album by Miles Davis, recorded in 1949/50, with arrangements by Gil Evans.

Hardbop
The musicians of the East Coast have not all seen in the West Coast Jazz, or Cool Jazz, the worthy heir of Bebop.
Black jazzmen in particular were not satisfied with this “sweetened” and worldly avatar and wanted to bring original jazz to life, lively and energetic.

Hence, the appearance of Hard-bop, also called “neo-bop”. This new descendant of Bebop borrows the harmonies of the blues and crosses the “churchy” accents of gospel music, notably in the piano and saxophone stops.

Hard Bop also stands out from Bop by the importance of rhythm, notably thanks to the drummers Art Blakey and Max Roach, who gave the drums their letters of nobility in jazz bands.

Hard bop is generally practiced by a quintet (piano, bass, drums, tenor saxophone, trumpet).

The first Hard Bop quintet was probably that of drummer Max Roach, with Clifford Brown and Sonny Rollins, in 1954-5.
In the following years, the movement took flight with Art Blakey and his Jazz Messengers, the quintet of pianist Horace Silver, the quintet of Miles Davis (including saxophonist John Coltrane), and that of saxophonist Sonny Rollins (including Horace Silver, Thelonious Monk, and Paul Chambers).

Despite the delicate circumstances of Hard-bop’s emergence (a reaction by the black community to growing racial segregation), the style experienced unprecedented popular fervor. For the first time, jazz ceased to be the music of a minority: its melodies were in every American household, whether black or white, advantaged or disadvantaged.

Hard bop constituted a starting point, direct or indirect, for many other jazz styles: soul jazz, modal jazz, and free jazz, notably.

Info Jazz The famous label Blue Note (now attached to the group EMI) owes most of its fame to Hard Bop artists: Horace Silver, Jimmy Smith, Art

At the same time, singer and pianist Ray Charles laid the foundations of rhythm and blues and soul music.

His great figures are Sonny Rollins, Art Blakey & jazz messengers, Charles Mingus and Thelonious Monk, Lee Morgan, Max Roach, Wayne Shorter, Bobby Timmons, Jay Jay Johnson, Philly Joe Jones, Roy Haynes, Wes Montgomery, Sonny Rollins, and John Coltrane, who made the transition with the free.

Info Jazz Comment by Pascal Thouvenin:

One may wonder if ‘hard-bop’ exists as a musical trend. Clifford Brown’s quintet was a pure bop quintet. Nothing distinguished him from the other quintets of the time. It was not a musician who invented this expression. Sonny Rollins is a pure bopper, the best of his generation; Parker’s influence on him is omnipresent. Max Roach changed nothing in his game after he left the Charlie Parker quintet.

Art Blakey is the spearhead of this ‘movement’, but he is the only one. We always quote Bobby Thimmons’ compositions, but where are the others?
Hard bop is at most bop, prioritizing the minor mode, without being modal music.

Bossa-Nova
It is a style of Brazilian music derived from samba and influenced by Cool Jazz, considered today as a full-fledged jazz style.

La Bossa Nova appeared in 1958, with the CD “Chega de Saudade”, by Vinícius de Moraes (lyrics) and Antônio Carlos Jobim (music), performed by João Gilberto.
In 1959, the release of the film “Orfeu Negro” by Marcel Camus helped to popularize the style, but it was in 1963, with the album “Getz & Gilberto” (Stan Getz and João Gilberto) and the song “Girl from Ipanema”, that he conquered audiences around the world.

Artists from other horizons then included Bossa Nova in their repertoire: Ella Fitzgerald with the album ‘Ella Abraça Jobim’, Frank Sinatra with ‘Francis Albert Sinatra & Antônio Carlos Jobim’.

The basic instrument of Bossa Nova is the guitar. A single guitar is enough to play a Bossa Nova, the right hand (or left if one is left-handed) producing a characteristic syncopated rhythm.
The piano can possibly replace the guitar (which is useful in traditional jazz formations), and the rhythm can be supported by a specific section, drums, and/or percussion.

Since the mid-1990s, many European artists combine in their creations electronic music and Bossa Nova. The result is hybrid styles called BossaElectrica or TecnoBossa, which are very fashionable in lounge bars across Europe and Asia (especially in the Philippines).

Among these new Bossa Nova artists, we can mention Bebel Gilberto, the daughter of the style’s co-creator, João Gilberto, and the European group “Nouvelle Vague”.

Info Jazz: The little story is that Henri Salvador was at the origin of this new musical style. His song “Dans mon île”, broadcast in Brazil in 1957 in an Italian film, would have given Tom Jobim the idea to slow down the samba and give it greater prominence as a melody.
Henri Salvador was also decorated in 2005 with the “Apostle of Merit Cultural” (Order of Cultural Merit) by the Brazilian singer and Minister of Culture Gilberto Gil, in the presence of President Luiz Inácio da Silva.

The definition of the term “bossa nova” seems difficult to give clearly, even for linguists. In Portuguese, it means both ‘new bump’, ‘new thing’, and ‘new technique’. This is how the creators of the style referred to it at the beginning, for lack of a more precise term. As the years passed, this temporary name became too familiar to be replaced, and we finally adopted it.
In French, it is often translated as ‘nouvelle vague’, which does not fit perfectly but conveys the idea well.

Main artists of Bossa Nova: João Gilberto, Antônio Carlos Jobim, Vinícius de Moraes, Astrud Gilberto, Baden Powell, Toquinho, Roberto Menescal, Stan Getz, Newton Mendonça, Carlos Lyra, Luiz Bonfá, Nara Leão, Roberto Menescal, Charlie Byrd, Oscar Castro Neves, Quarteto em Cy, Marcos Valle, Os Cariocas, Milton Banana.

Some tracks to listen to: Chega de Saudade, The Girl from Ipanema, Wave, Desafinado, Corcovado (Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars), Once I Loved, Summer Samba, One Note Samba.

Modal
Until then, jazz pieces were based on successive chords that musicians absolutely had to follow, including in the improvised parts.

At the end of the 1950s, almost all the chord sequences had been imagined, and the “modal” approach opened new horizons, notably by freeing soloists from harmonic constraints.

Thus, instead of exploring chord sequences, modal jazz explores the sequence of notes within the same key, playing on the diversity of modes.

The number of different chords in a piece is therefore reduced, each one being held and explored for longer.

The tracks “So What” (excerpt from the iconic album “Kind of Blue” by Miles Davis, 1959) and “Impressions” by John Coltrane are representative of modal jazz. Both have an “AABA” type structure and use only two chords (Dm and Ebm) from start to finish.

The piece “Cantaloupe Island” by Herbie Hancock (excerpt from the album “Empyrean Isles”, 1964) is another illustration of modal jazz, with a more marked funky rhythm.

Info Jazz: Some compositions, although related to modal jazz, have deviated from the rule of harmonic sobriety: the chords are numerous and follow one another quickly; this is called “atonal” jazz (without a dominant note), sometimes considered Free jazz. The piece ‘Limbo’ by Wayne Shorter performed by Miles Davis on the album ‘Sorcerer’ (1967) is representative of ‘atonal’ jazz.

The composer George Russell (born on 23/06/1923), author of the Lydian concept of tonal organization, is one of the first pioneers of modal jazz.

Free-Jazz
Sometimes called ‘Avant Garde’, free jazz frees music from its usual structure.

“Free jazz” was initially the title of an album by Ornette Coleman containing a long improvisation with almost no supporting theme. This musical approach corresponds to a period of claiming Black identity.

However, the roots of Free Jazz go back further: in 1949, Lennie Tristano and Lee Konitz produced two improvisations (Intuition and Discretion) without any constraint for the chord sequence, without indication for the measure, and without precision for the tempo. It was the very first Free jazz (the Capitol label refused to release it!).

The change in relation to other styles was such that one hesitated to include Free Jazz in the musical genre (!): it was strictly called ‘New Thing’, a ‘Nouvelle Chose’ which was neither jazz nor music…

Ironically, Free Jazz, so denigrated, continues to influence today’s jazz.

Info Jazz Some figures of Free Jazz: John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman, Archie Shepp, Albert Ayler, Pharaoh Sanders, Art Ensemble of Chicago.

Soul-Jazz
Descendant of the Hard Bop, Soul music appeared at the end of the 1950s, in the southern United States.

Close to R&B, this music borrows from gospel its instrumental characteristics, its religious inspiration (to a limited extent), and the importance of vocalists.

The recordings of Horace Silver, Sam Cooke, Ray Charles, and James Brown are considered to have marked the beginning of soul music.

Soul can be subdivided into different branches: the original soul or “Southern Soul”, “the Northern Soul” (closer to the Pop of the 60s), the “Psychedelic Soul” (draft style Funk), the “Latin Soul” or “Boogaloo”, and finally the “Neo Soul” or “Nu Soul” (fashionable today).

It was in the 1960s that Soul music was most popular, with artists like Aretha Franklin, Etta James, Wilson Pickett, Curtis Mayfield, and James Brown (“The Godfather of Soul”).

The latter evolves the style, especially with a more aggressive and syncopated rhythm, thus giving birth to the little brother of Soul: Funk.

During the 1970s and early 1980s, new recordings immortalized the Soul style: “Let’s Get It On” by Marvin Gaye, “Walking in the Rain” by Barry White, “Songs In The Key Of Life” by Stevie Wonder, “Off the Wall” by Michael Jackson, etc.

Soul music, after giving birth to Funk, inspired Rap (notably through sampling), then Hip-hop, and continues to revive today through “Nu-Soul” or “Neo-Soul”. Among the supporters of Nu-Soul, we can mention D’Angelo, De La Soul, Erykah Badu, Macy Gray, Joss Stone, and Amy Winehouse.

Info Jazz: An indissociable instrument of Soul jazz: the Hammond organ.
Used first at the church, this electric organ has made the success of jazzmen like Jimmy Smith, Wild Bill Davis, Jimmy McGriff, Charles Earland, Eddy Louiss, and Shirley Scott.

Funky
Funk, very popular in the 1960s and 1970s, is at the crossroads of Soul and current African-American styles.

The definition of the term ‘funk’ (from African-American jargon) has evolved a lot since its appropriation by jazz. Funky” was initially a popular term, referring to a smell of perspiration, an attitude or assertive style, “virile”.

Then the term applied to a form of jazz that appeared in the 1950s, marking a new affirmation of black American identity.
This music “asserts” its difference through a powerful rhythm (it takes the melody’s ascendant for the first time) and a characteristic syncopated bass. The result is a unique “groove”, more pronounced than in Soul music.

Bassists such as James Jamerson, Bootsy Collins, and Larry Graham (from the band “Sly & the Family Stone”) make the bass guitar the keystone of funk: it indeed dominates the tracks, both melodically and rhythmically.

At the end of the 1960s, James Brown’s band invented the “funk beat”, which is characterized by a more aggressive and syncopated rhythm, accentuating the first part of the measure, unlike traditional R&B (which emphasized the 2nd and 4th beats).

In the 1970s, funk continued to be popularized by artists such as Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, The Ohio Players, Kool and the Gang, Stevie Wonder, and Parliament-Funkadelic.

In the 1980s, with hits by Prince and Rick James, the ‘funk beat’ remained very popular, especially in the African-American community.

Today, the style still has followers, carried by recent groups like “Soulive” and by its great pioneers, such as George Clinton.

Info Jazz The invention of “slap” or “slapping” is attributed to bassist Larry Graham, a bass guitar technique consisting of pulling the strings very hard so that they bounce on the fingerboard (black latte above which the strings are strung), producing a slap (new rhythmic element, characteristic of funk).

Funk is the origin of many other musical styles, from disco to hip-hop and rap (numerous “samplings” of funk hits from the 70s). The style called ‘acid jazz’ is a cross between original funk and hip-hop.

Latin-Jazz
Of all the styles from the Post-Swing era, Latin Jazz is perhaps the most popular.

Still called Afro-Cuban Jazz, Mambo, or Cubop (a contraction of Cuba and bebop), it is a mix of Cuban rhythms, dominated by percussion, and the Bebop spirit. The result is energetic, joyful music, very conducive to dance, which explains its success with a large audience.

The father of the style is probably the trumpeter-arranger Mario Bauza, who introduced Dizzy Gillespie to Cuban music and, with his brother-in-law Machito and Tito Puente, created the first Latin Jazz group: “Machito and his afro-cubans” (1940).

Latin Jazz acts in the United States as a unifying current, unlike other jazz styles, which have caused dissensions between the major regions.

The instrumentation of Latin jazz can vary, but the rhythm is typically provided by conga, timpani, bongo, and other Cuban percussion instruments (and, indirectly, African instruments). Then come the piano, the guitar, the vibraphones, even the horns, and the voices.

Although it is still played in its original form, Latin jazz today has new variations, and the Latin touch is applied to other forms of jazz, such as funk. The soloists also appear there.

Info Jazz: Some figures of Latin jazz include Chano Pozo, Dizzy Gillespie, Mario Bauza, Chucho Valdés, Arturo Sandoval, Ray Barretto, Tito Puente, Pancho Sánchez, and Horacio “El Negro” Hernández.

Jazz-Rock aka Jazz-fusion
Emerging in the late 1960s, jazz-rock, or ‘fusion’, is the combination of jazz improvisation and the energetic, driving rhythms of rock (and pop music). Electronic instruments made their debut.

Miles Davis pioneered the genre with the albums In a Silent Way (1969) and Bitches Brew (1969), recorded with guitarist John McLaughlin, bassist Dave Holland, and keyboardist Joe Zawinul.

Joe Zawinul would go on to found the group Weather Report (with Wayne Shorter) a year later, in 1970.

Jazz-rock is associated with names such as Chick Corea, Jean-Luc Ponty and John McLaughlin (Mahavishnu Orchestra), Frank Zappa, Herbie Hancock and his jazz-funk album “Headhunters,” the European groups Cream, Magma, Zao (Didier Lockwood) or the Lyon Workshop, saxophonist Michel Portal, Stan Getz and his European collaborators (organist Eddy Louiss and drummer Bernard Lubat), Phil Woods and his European Rhythm Machine composed of pianist Gordon Beck, bassist Henri Texier, and drummer Daniel Humair.

However, jazz-rock, a cash cow for record companies, is much to the dismay of purists who lament that so many jazz proponents have strayed from its true origins, represented at the time by Hard Bop.

Jazz Info: Representative Albums of Jazz Fusion

Late 1960s

Blood, Sweat & Tears – Blood, Sweat & Tears (1969)
Gary Burton – Duster (1967)
Miles Davis – In a Silent Way (1969)
Tony Williams – Lifetime – Emergency! (1969)
Frank Zappa – Hot Rats (1969)

1970s

Al Di Meola – Land of the Midnight Sun (1976), Elegant Gypsy (1977), Casino (1978)
Jeff Beck – Blow by Blow (1975)
Brand X – Unorthodox Behavior (1976)
Bruford – One Of A Kind (1978)
Stanley Clarke – School Days (1976)
Chick Corea – The Leprechaun (1976), My Spanish Heart (1976)
Matching Mole – Matching Mole (1972)
Larry Coryell – Spaces (1970), Larry Coryell At The Village Gate (1971), Introducing The Eleventh House (1974)
Miles Davis – Bitches Brew (1970), On The Corner (1972), Get Up With It (1972), Agharta (1975), Pangea (1975)
Herbie Hancock – Crossings (1972), Head Hunters (1973), Thrust (1974)
Mahavishnu Orchestra – The Inner Mounting Flame (1971), Birds of Fire (1972), The Lost Trident Sessions (1973, released in 1999)
John McLaughlin – My Goal’s Beyond (1971), Love Devotion Surrender (1973)
Jean-Luc Ponty – Enigmatic Ocean (1977), Cosmic Messenger (1978)
Pat Metheny – Pat Metheny Group (1978), American Garage (1979)
Soft Machine – Third (1970), Six (1973), Seven (1973), Bundles (1975), Softs (1976)
Jaco Pastorius – Jaco Pastorius (1976)
Return to Forever – Light as a Feather (1973), Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy (1973), Where Have I Known You Before (1974), Romantic Warrior (1976)
Tony Williams Lifetime – Turn It Over (1970), Believe It (1975)
Weather Report – Sweetnighter (1973), Mysterious Traveler (1974), Black Market (1976), Heavy Weather (1977)

1980s

Allan Holdsworth – “Road Games” (1983), “Metal Fatigue” (1985)
Bob Berg – Short Stories (1987), Cycles (1988)
Chick Corea – Chick Corea Elektric Band (1986), Eye of the Beholder (1987)
Herbie Hancock – Mr. Hands (1980)
John Scofield – Pick Hits Live (1987)
Steps Ahead – Smokin’ In The Pit (by Steps) (1980), Steps Ahead (1983)
Uzeb – Noisy Nights (1988)
1990s
Alain Caron – Rhythm ‘n Jazz (1995)
Tom Coster – The Forbidden Zone (1994)
Cynic – Focus (1993)
Jack DeJohnette – DeJohnette, Holland, Hancock, Metheny In Concert (1990 – DVD Only)
Bill Evans – Little Blonde (1992)
Metro – Metro (1994)
Derek Sherinian – Planet X (1999)
Steve Smith – Vital Tech Tones (1998)
Mike Stern – Give And Take (1997)
Tribal Tech – Tribal Tech (1991), Reality Check (1995)
Chad Wackerman – Forty Reasons (1991)

2000s

CAB – Cab 2 (2002), Cab 4 (2003)
Alain Caron – 5 (2003)
Christian McBride – Vertical Vision (2003)
Planet X – MoonBabies (2002), Quantum (2007)
Derek Sherinian – Inertia (2001), Black Utopia (2003), Mythology (2004), Blood of the Snake (2006)
Tribal Tech – Rocket Science (2000)
Metalwood – Recline (2001)
Guthrie Govan – Erotic Cakes (2006)

ECM
ECM (Edition of Contemporary Music) is a label founded in 1969 in Munich by the former German double bassist Manfred Eicher.

The recordings he produced brought new elements to jazz, to such an extent that one can speak of an “ECM Style.”

The style’s emblematic musicians are American (pianists Keith Jarrett, Chick Corea, Paul Bley, and Art Lande; guitarists Pat Metheny, John Abercrombie, and Ralph Towner; vibraphonist Gary Burton; drummer Paul Motian; and bassist Charlie Haden) but also European (saxophonist Jan Garbarek; drummer Jon Christensen; guitarist Terje Rypdal; and bassists Eberhard Weber and Dave Holland).

Their music, while considered “cold” by some, is regarded by others as the most evolved form of jazz, bringing together the best of post-bop, world music, and European classical influences. Indeed, one gets the impression that ECM has preserved the essence of each style, while stripping it of its excess, its unnecessary embellishments. This is somewhat what the label’s motto advocates: “the most beautiful sound after silence.”

For example, on the album Officium (1994), Jan Garbarek plays saxophone on Gregorian chants, performed by the Hilliard Ensemble. Another example is the album “Proverbs and Songs” (1997), in which the Salisbury Festival Choir sings Old Testament texts, accompanied by John Surman on saxophone and John Taylor on organ.
Improvisation is also one of the label’s pillars, as evidenced by the numerous entirely improvised concerts recorded around the world by pianist Keith Jarrett (including the celebrated “Köln Concert”).

In 2002 and 2004, ECM produced a series of compilations called “Rarum.” Its unique feature was that the eponymous artist selected the tracks for each album.

Twenty “Rarum” volumes were released, featuring contributions from Keith Jarrett, Jan Garbarek, Chick Corea, Gary Burton, Bill Frisell, Art Ensemble of Chicago, Terje Rypdal, Bobo Stenson, Pat Metheny, Dave Holland, Egberto Gismonti, Jack DeJohnette, John Surman, John Abercrombie, Carla Bley, Paul Motian, Tomasz Stanko, Eberhard Weber, Arild Andersen, and Jon Christensen.

ECM Jazz is renowned for its state-of-the-art recording techniques, which allow it to recreate the sound of a live concert hall.

Studio recording sessions are very short: an average of two days per album (plus one day for mixing).

The album covers are characterized by a clean and austere graphic style that highlights the icy purity of the works (Barbara Wojirsch’s covers have aged remarkably well and continue to inspire young artists).

The ECM label is considered a pioneer of “New Age” music.

World-Jazz
World Jazz, or World Fusion, refers to the crossroads between jazz and world music. World Jazz, therefore, characterizes Latin, African, or Asian pop music when it is tinged with jazz, or conversely, jazz when it takes on these exotic colors.

World Jazz is generally a tonic, lyrical music that can appeal to a more diverse audience than traditional jazz.

Latin-Jazz from the 1960s-70s is the first form of world fusion, which consists of playing jazz on the traditional rhythms of Central America, notably Brazilian, Cuban, and Puerto Rican (the pioneers are Dizzy Gillespie, Tito Puente, Mario Bauza, Machito, Chucho Valdes, Gato Barbieri, Mongo Santamaria, Sonny Rollins, etc.)

In the early 1970s, the group Shakti (which included, among others, the English guitarist John McLaughlin and the Indian violinist L. Shankar) combined jazz with traditional Indian music.

We can also cite the pianist Abdullah Ibrahim, who honors the African origins of Jazz, inspired by the music of South Africa (“Anatomy of a South African Village”, 1965; “Echoes from Africa”, 1979, etc), and the saxophonist Yusef Lateef, who takes up the traditional Islamic instrumentation.

Info Jazz Django Reinhardt’s Gypsy Jazz, which mixed gypsy music, European orchestration and jazz, can be considered as one of the first forms of World Jazz.

Crossover-Jazz
The ‘Crossover Jazz’ refers to an expansion of jazz with Pop, Rock & Rytm&Blues influences from the 1970s.

This phenomenon, which has once again enabled a vast audience to unite around jazz, is represented by many contemporary artists.
We can mention: Wes Montgomery, Al Jarreau, Grover Washington, George Benson, David Sanborn, Boney James, Spyro Gyra, The Yellowjackets, David Benoit, Pat Metheny, Chuck Loeb, Kenny G, Kirk Whalum, Dave Koz, The Rippingtons, Claude Bolling, Bob James, Earl Klugh, etc.

Post-Bop
The terms “Post Bop” or “Modern Mainstream” are used for all contemporary jazz music that cannot be associated with a specific historical style.

In 1979, the trumpet player Wynton Marsalis performed music at the crossroads of hard bop and free jazz, touching on the music of Miles Davis from the 1960s. This jazz becomes the emblem of the young generation, which does not hesitate to enrich it with new influences, making it a melting pot of all styles since the 1950s.

Imaginative improvisers who refuse any allegiance to traditional styles, such as Wallace Roney or John Scofield, are representative of the Post Boppers.

Acid-Jazz
A product of the London scene of the late 1980s, Acid Jazz is a blend of hard bop jazz, funk, and hip-hop.
His marked rhythm, with strong percussion, makes it a lively piece that does not go without reminding us of Afro-Cuban jazz, but its powerful groove also associates him with funk, hip hop, and dance music.

The term appeared in 1988, both to designate a label and a series of jazz-funk compilations from the 1980s, which were then called ‘rare groove’.

Many bands bearing the Acid Jazz label appeared until the early 90s. Some stand out for their live performances (Stereo MC’s, James Taylor Quartet, the Brand New Heavies, Groove Collective, Me’shell, Galliano, or Jamiroquai), others record exclusively in the studio (Palm Skin Productions, Mondo Grosso, Outside, or United Future Organization).

Some purists do not consider acid jazz a full-fledged jazz style because its use of sampling makes it static, with improvisation no longer having its place.

Info Jazz: It is the London producer and DJ Gilles Peterson who would have invented the term “Acid jazz” in the late 1980s (by creating his label “Acid Jazz Records”)

Acid Jazz bands/artists: The Brand New Heavies, Galliano, Jamiroquai, Mother Earth, Chuff Nutts, JamesTaylor Quartet, Tomb Raiders, Me’shell Ndégéocello, Young Disciples, Brown Starr, Meateaters, Groove Collective, Incognito, Corduroy, Wizards of Ooze, The Solsonics, RAD, Keziah Jones, Say Hello to the Lady, Beigels Daisy Toasts, Blacknuss, Directions in Groove, UFO, etc.

Smooth Jazz
Smooth jazz is a descendant of Fusion jazz, but it has lost the exalted, untamable aspect of its ancestor. As its name suggests, it is a ‘soft’ jazz.

The use of digital technology standardizes the sound, the musicians are adjusted to perfection, everything flows smoothly, and without surprise…
Here, no room for improvisation, hence the debate on whether the term ‘jazz’ can really be applied (same problem as for Acid Jazz or Trip Hop).

The instruments in the spotlight are electric keyboards, alto or soprano saxophone, guitar, bass guitar, and percussion.

Smooth Jazz has perhaps become the most commercially viable form of jazz since Swing. It is sometimes called ‘Rhythm & Jazz’, ‘Jazz-Pop’, or ‘NAC’ (‘New Adult Contemporary’) for its ability to appeal to audiences from various backgrounds (pop, rock, or R&B) as well as to neophytes in jazz.

Among the worthy representatives of this movement, we can mention saxophonist Kenny G., guitarist Ronny Jordan, the group Incognito (which has gathered more than a hundred artists on its different albums), saxophonist Candy Dulfer, or pioneers like David Sanborn, Grover Washington, Jr., George Benson, George Duke, Earl Klugh, Joe Sample, or even Bob James.

Post-Modernes
More modern than the Hard boppers…

Close to cool jazz (Tim Berne, Paul Motian, or Bill Frisell give the melody its essential role)…

Also close to Soul jazz or Funky jazz (Cassandra Wilson, Steve Coleman, etc)…

They are, however, not comparable to any of these styles, hence their nickname ‘Post-modern’ or ‘Post-modernism.

Trip-Hop
Born in the United Kingdom in the mid-90s, trip hop or ‘Bristol sound’ is a repetitive electronic music, with a slow tempo, derived from house and English hip hop. If its classification as a fully-fledged Jazz movement is debatable, jazz is nevertheless an essential ingredient.

Technically speaking

The trip-hop sound is indeed based on jazz loops, often extracted from old vinyl records (“sampling” technique).

The “touch” of DJs is therefore essential; one of the discoveries of trip hop is to juxtapose musical elements from one record with those from another, running on a second turntable.

This widespread use of “samples” from older recordings has led labels to closely monitor the creations of trip-hop artists, sometimes too closely to the original versions.

Humanly speaking

Trip Hop was popularized by DJ Shadow, Massive Attack, Morcheeba, Portishead, Bjork, Tricky, Ruby, DJ Cam, DJ Krush, and Glideascope.

European
At the end of the 20th century, many Scandinavian and French musicians, believing that traditional American jazz had been relegated to the past, began creating a new style dubbed ‘European’.

As with Acid Jazz, Europeans want to return to jazz as dance music.

We therefore combine acoustic and electronic instruments to obtain a popular variety of contemporary jazz.

Some musicians representative of this movement:

the Norwegian pianist Bugge Wesseltoft, the trumpeter Nils Petter Molvaer, the French pianists Martial Solal and Laurent de Wilde, and the saxophonist Julien Lourau.

Nu-Jazz

The term Nu-Jazz emerged at the end of the 90s to describe a mutant form of jazz that married jazz harmonies and instrumentation with electronic music.

The boundaries of this style are blurred: we associate them with St Germain (fr), Fila Brazillia, The Cinematic Orchestra (uk), Jazzanova (German), Bugge Wesseltoft, Jaga Jazzist, Nils Petter Molvær (Norwegian), etc.

Also called electronic jazz or electro-jazz, Nu-jazz goes further into the territory of electronics than its close cousin Acid Jazz, which remains closer to Soul and rhythm and blues.