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Genre guide

Jazz.
The sound of America improvising.

Jazz emerged in New Orleans at the dawn of the 20th century, born from the blues, ragtime, and the brass-band tradition of African American communities. Built on improvisation, swing, and the constant conversation between players, it evolved with astonishing speed - through swing, bebop, cool, modal, and free jazz - reshaping itself almost every decade. From Louis Armstrong to Miles Davis to John Coltrane, jazz turned spontaneity into high art and became one of America's greatest contributions to world culture.

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From the genre's founders to the names still being discovered.

Jazz articles
6 days ago
Matthew Stevens Finally Steps Into His Own Light
Grammy-winning guitarist Matthew Stevens releases his self-titled fourth album on Candid Records, a ten-track statement co-produced with saxophonist Josh Johnson and percussionist Eric Doob, featuring Terri Lyne Carrington, Jeff Parker, Joel Ross, Dylan Day, and vocalists Anna B Savage and Corey King — twenty years of craft distilled into one focused, unhurried record.
6 days ago
James Brandon Lewis Makes a Ballad Album That Refuses to Sit Still
James Brandon Lewis's new quartet album "Abstraction Is Deliverance" — recorded in a single day at Hardstudios Winterthur and released May 30 on Intakt Records — is a nine-track set that defies its own description as a ballad album, finding something urgent and alive inside apparent stillness.