
Jazz Music Portal | Britannica
Jazz, musical form, often improvisational, developed by African Americans and influenced by both European harmonic structure and African rhythms. It was developed partially from ragtime and blues …
jazz summary | Britannica
jazz, Musical form, often improvisational, developed by African Americans and influenced by both European harmonic structure and African rhythms.
Jazz - Swing, Soloists, Improvisation | Britannica
Feb 4, 2026 · Jazz - Swing, Soloists, Improvisation: Major swing soloists also emerged in the 1930s—most notably tenor saxophonists Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young, and Ben Webster; …
Jazz - Orchestral, Improvisation, Swing | Britannica
Feb 4, 2026 · Jazz - Orchestral, Improvisation, Swing: It was in the 1920s that the first forms of true orchestral jazz were developed, most significantly by Fletcher Henderson and Duke Ellington.
Jazz - Ragtime, Blues, Swing | Britannica
Feb 4, 2026 · Jazz - Ragtime, Blues, Swing: In the early 1930s two bands made important contributions to jazz: Bennie Moten’s, with the recordings of “Toby,” “Lafayette,” and “Prince of Wails,” and the …
Jazz - Fusion, Improvisation, Swing | Britannica
Feb 4, 2026 · Jazz - Fusion, Improvisation, Swing: The first signs of these fresh musical sounds could be heard as early as 1941, particularly in works by such composer-arrangers as Buster Harding, …
Jazz - Cool, Bebop, Swing | Britannica
Feb 4, 2026 · Jazz - Cool, Bebop, Swing: Perhaps in reaction to the hot, more strident, more frenetic expressions of the postwar bands, or perhaps as a direct influence of the Thornhill-Evans approach, …
Ella Fitzgerald | Biography, Music, & Facts | Britannica
What are the origins of jazz? Jazz music originated from a blend of African and European musical elements, developed by African Americans in the United States. It was influenced by ragtime and …
Thelonious Monk | Jazz composer, Pianist, Innovator | Britannica
Feb 13, 2026 · Thelonious Monk was an American pianist and composer who was among the first creators of modern jazz. As the pianist in the band at Minton’s Playhouse, a nightclub in New York …
Stan Getz | Jazz Saxophonist, Grammy Winner & Brazilian Music …
Jan 30, 2026 · Stan Getz was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, perhaps the best-known musician of jazz’s ‘cool school,’ noted for his mellow, lush tone.