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as long as it followed the chord structure of the piece. Bebop being completely different from swing can be attributed to inspiring all forms of jazz that followed.

Mainstream- The 1950's brought us mainstream jazz. After the end of the Big Band era the groups broke up into smaller ensembles. Even though Swing and Bebop continued to be the main make up of Mainstream jazz, Mainstream continued to encourage chordal arrangement and eventually started phasing out the old melodic ways of jazz.

Cool - Cool jazz can be significantly attributed to Los Angeles area for it's innovations. Often called "West Coast Jazz", Cool jazz was extremely popular by the end of the 1950's. Cool jazz just as mainstream did, fused Swing and Bebop and was rich in soft harmonic jams. Cool jazz spread nation wide and was very popular in the east as it was every where else.

Free Jazz - 1960's era brought us musicians looking to free them self from restrictive ensemble arrangement structure. A couple different forms of jazz emerged before Free jazz but found them self giving way to the more popular West coast Cool jazz. Hard bop, Bossa Nova and Model forms of jazz were all short lived and found them self muted by the sounds of Cool jazz. Free jazz however, often called "Avante Garde", was at first ignored as a form of jazz. To this day Free jazz continues to influence mainstream jazz.

Soul Jazz and Groove - these two forms of jazz also emerged in the 1960's and based their sounds off of soul, funk and gospel. The Hammond organ begun to find it's entrance into jazz with Soul and Groove jazz. One thing for certain, jazz began to explode in it's popularity with the emergence of Soul and Groove jazz.

Fusion - Early 1970's seen a new coming of jazz sounds. Fusion mixed jazz and rock together for the first time and it became a huge success although drawing sharp criticism from die hard jazz fans. Fusion undoubtedly took jazz to a new level and introduced jazz into a much bigger audience then previous forms.

Afro-Cuban Jazz - This blend of Bebop with Spanish influenced arrangements made the apparent border cross of jazz from North America to South America. Also emerging in th 70's, Afro-Cuban Jazz became popular not only in South America but in North America as well, especially in area's that were seeing a huge increase of Spanish populations.

Post Bop - Starting in 1979 any class of jazz that could not be explained by historical classes of jazz were often called Post Bop. These forms of jazz were often referred to as Modern Mainstream as well.

Acid Jazz - Acid jazz actually covers a huge range of music. Acid Jazz is unique in it's form for it did not derive from any of jazz's previous forms. Acid Jazz began in 1987 from the British dance scene. Acid jazz concentrates on instrument form rather than lyric. It incorporates classic Jazz, 70s Funk, Hip-Hop, Soul and Latin grooves.

Smooth Jazz - Smooth jazz evolved from fusion and stays strong in todays current jazz trends. This form of jazz incorporates the use of highly technological forms of music making such as synthesizers and electronic music composing equipment to blend its sounds.

There you go, I am sure i may have missed a few. I have given you my knowledge of the different kinds of jazz that I know of. No matter what form of jazz it may be, jazz is truly an American born music and is enjoyed by a very large group diverse in age. Jazz has influenced many other forms of modern day music with its rich forms of composition and its many different styles jazz has introduced. One thing is for sure, since it's emergence, jazz continually changes with the times.

Learn more about this author, Adam Ugro.
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