which jazz is which?

[lovejoy]

jazz comes in two distinct forms, one type is melodious and the other type is just a complete racket with no tune to it whatsoever.

One is called trad jazz

and the other modern jazz

which is which?

[jags45]

While I don't think modern jazz is a good term, traditional jazz would be the more melodious type of jazz of what you're thinking of.

The way I was taught (in the most basic form I can explain it in) is that Traditional Jazz was before 1980's and Modern Jazz was after the 1980's. Now there are a ton of different jazz genres. The noisy, tune-less jazz you're referring to is most commonly referred to as Avant Jazz or Free Jazz. Some prominent musicians of these genres are Ornette Coleman, Eric Dolphy, Albert Ayler, Sun Ra, and even some of Miles Davis' later stuff like Pangea and Agharta.

[spudqueen]

Oh Sun Ra plays the most awful tuneless stuff - a favourite of my father-in-laws!

[mushroom25]

a gag of my father's was that he was at a Stan Kenton gig and a waiter dropped a huge tray of crockery - at which point everyone got up to dance.

[saxy_jag]

The sort of stuff you hear Kenny Ball and Acker Bilk playing, bowler hats and waistcoats etc etc - that's what most people call trad jazz and it's directly related to the very early 'jass' music developed in America by slaves and their descendents. It's also closely related to negro spiritual music.

The 'tuneless' stuff is probably freeform jazz. It's actually been around since at least the 1960s and is often without form or pattern. In fact, the very epitome of jazz. Purists will argue as to whether it is the tuneless racket you describe, and I'm not even going to go there. 8-o

In between, there's every form of jazz imaginable - ragtime, blues, big band and even some show music (think 'West Side Story'). That's the best thing about jazz - there's usually some form of it to suit everyone.

[GEEMAC]

...Not to mention, Jazz Rock, Jazz Funk and Acid Jazz

[lovejoy]

Thanks everbody

[Philtaz]

I must admit that whenever I hear the word Jazz I immediately think of some of the 'artistes' that performed in The Fast Show Jaz Club!

[vehelpfulguy]

>jazz comes in two distinct forms

As you can see from the replies, you made a basic mistake with this comment.

There is not two forms of Jazz, there are many forms, in the same way there are many forms of "pop" music.

Music that you call Trad (Traditional) mainly came out of New Orleans between about 1890 and 1920. This was played by Louis Armstrong, King Oliver and others. I suppose you may call it "good time" music.

But then it evolved into other styles like "big band" (30s and 40s) with Count Basie, Benny Goodman etc

Then Be bop (1950s) with Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. I guess this was the start of Modern Jazz, but it was still tuneful.

In the late 1950s early 1960s there was a revival of the trad jazz when people like Acker Bilk, Kenny Ball, Chris Barber and so on played the good time music from the 1920s.

There was a free-form style in the 1960 and 70s, but it was only one minor style of jazz which only had a specialist following.