Skip to content
    skip to navigation

    Classic FM

    Listen

    On Air Now

    Classic FM Requests 12pm - 2pm

    Classic FM Requests

    Now Playing

    The Pirates of Penzance - Overture Arthur Sullivan Download 'The Pirates of Penzance - Overture' on iTunes

    The Pirates of Penzance - Overture artwork
    • Playlist
    • Schedule
    • Home
    • Radio
    • News
    • Discover Music
    • Composers
    • Artists
    • Lifestyle
    • Win
    • Charity
    • Podcasts
    • Events
    • Dating
    • Follow us on:
      Follow Classic FM on Twitter
      Follow Classic FM on Facebook
      Follow Classic FM on Instagram
      Follow Classic FM on Youtube

    Discover Music

    • Discover Music Home
    • Periods & Genres
    • Occasions
    • Mood
    • Instruments
    • Music Theory
    • Learning
    • Humour
    • Women in Music
    • More Classic FM
    Jazz

    Jazz

    Jazz is a genre that emerged out of the late 19th century with its roots in blues and ragtime.

    The music originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. A port city on the Gulf of Mexico, people would come from all over the world to New Orleans to trade, socialise and share their music. Out of this musical melting pot came jazz.

    Since the ‘Jazz Age’ of the 1920s, jazz has become a major genre in musical expression, and its development has allowed for the rise of different breakout styles over the decades such as dixieland, swing, free jazz, cool jazz, and acid jazz.

    The etymology of the word ‘jazz’ can be traced back to the slang term, ‘jasm’ which was coined in the 1860s, meaning “pep, energy”.

    Instruments that had previously solely belonged to the classical genre, crossed over into the new genre of jazz, including the trumpet, clarinet, piano, and the relatively new woodwind instrument, the saxophone – invented in just 1846.

    Notable early jazz musicians include Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Scott Joplin, and King Oliver.

    Singers like Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday gave jazz a global stardom, and a political edge in a heavily racialised and divided America.

    Bebop, a fast tempo, complex sub-genre of jazz emerged from the 1940s, brought shining lights such as saxophone legends Charlie Parker and later, John Coltrane to the forefront of the genre.

    Jazz has gone on to influence multiple modern genres, including rock music, and a dual-genre, jazz-rock fusion, was a popular sound originating in the 1960s with musicians such as Miles Davis, Chick Corea, and Herbie Hancock leading the way.

    True to its history, jazz today remains that melting pot of genres, ranging from funk, latin, to, electronic and hip-hop. Young musicians working in the genre such as Esperanza Spalding, Nbuya Garcia, Jacob Collier, and Cory Henry, frequently genre-cross to create the unique and ever-changing sound world that is 21st century jazz.

    Did you know?

    Jazz and classical has a long history of genre crossing, with musicians such as George Gershwin and Duke Ellington composing jazz influenced concertos, and classical style jazz suites.

    View more

    Discover Jazz

    Doreen Ketchens is a legendary clarinet player

    Jazz virtuoso plays mind-blowing clarinet solo while casually playing in street band

    Harry Connick Jr audience claps

    Jazz pianist finds ingenious way to correct audience clapping on the wrong beat

    Opera and jazz fans among ‘happiest’ of music genres, study finds

    Opera and jazz fans among ‘happiest’ of music genres, study finds

    Exclusive
    Violinist Nicola Benedetti launches new three-tier project 'Baroque'

    Violinist Nicola Benedetti on what classical music could learn from jazz gigs

    Nicola Benedetti

    Most shared jazz features

    “Jazz On A Balcony” In Odesa Amid Russia's Invasion In Ukraine

    Odesa missile strike halts balcony concert at beloved Ukrainian jazz club

    Double bassist Charles Mingus in 1960

    Charles Mingus at 100: a legendary jazz musician with classical music roots

    Jamie Foxx voices music teacher Joe Gardner

    Pixar animation ‘Soul’: who composed the jazz music and how to stream the soundtrack

    Guitarist duets with his piano-playing cat

    Guitarist duets with piano-playing cat, and a soothing jazz masterpiece unfolds

    Charlie Puth: piano major, Rachmaninov geek and jazz improvisor.

    Yes, Charlie Puth has perfect pitch. He’s also a piano major, Rachmaninov stan and jazz improvisor.

    Baby trumpeter becomes star of jazz show

    Baby boy steals jazz show as he picks up mini trumpet and plays with buskers

    Boy on pogo stick adds percussion to a jazz trio’s street performance

    Boy hops on pogo stick, spontaneously adding percussion to busking jazz trio

    Exclusive
    Wynton Marsalis

    “Jazz anticipated this moment” – Wynton Marsalis on Black Lives Matter and the power of music

    Zoe Saldana apologises for playing Nina Simone in controversial biopic

    Zoe Saldana apologises for playing jazz icon Nina Simone in controversial biopic

    Hazel Scott was a piano virtuoso

    Who was Hazel Scott, the forgotten jazz virtuoso who fought against racial segregation?

    Wynton Marsalis speaks up amid protests

    Trumpeter Wynton Marsalis on music and social upheaval: ‘jazz teaches you to create the change’

    Miles Davis in 1959

    Jazz trumpeter Miles Davis was victim of an unprovoked police assault in 1959

    Rats prefer jazz to classical music

    Controversial study shows rats prefer jazz to classical music, when on drugs

    Ellis Marsalis Jr and Wynton Marsalis, backstage at The Blue Note in New York

    Ellis Marsalis, jazz legend and father of Wynton, dies of suspected coronavirus, aged 85

    Coronavirus

    'Five Elise'

    Beethoven’s ‘Fur Elise’ but it’s in a jazzy 5/4... so ‘Five Elise’

    Beethoven

    Sharks love jazz music but don’t get classical

    Sharks love jazz music but don’t get classical, scientists reveal

    First page Prev
    1 2
    Next Last page

    More Periods and Genres

    See more More Periods and Genres

    Baroque

    Classical

    Romantic

    Film & TV

    Opera

    Video Games

    More From ClassicFM

    A music school was destroyed by Russian forces this weekend

    Donbas music school destroyed by Russian shelling in Eastern Ukraine

    Kyiv’s National Opera House reopened this weekend

    Kyiv’s National Opera House defiantly reopens as war rages on in Ukraine

    This week’s on-air highlights – including Album of the Week and Drive Discovery

    This week’s on-air highlights – including Album of theThis week’s on-air highlights – including Album of the Week and Drive Discovery

    What does music sound like when played in Mars’ atmosphere?

    What would music sound like on Mars? We spoke to a planetary scientist to find out...

    Fibonacci sequence in music

    What is the Fibonacci Sequence – and why is it the secret to musical greatness?

    Nirvana, but in a major key

    Nirvana’s ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ remixed in a major key shows the importance of tonality

    Back to top

    Also on Classic FM

    • Listen to Global Player
    • Alexander Armstrong on Classic FM
    • Christmas Songs
    • Music for Pets
    • Quizzes
    • Handel
    • Debussy
    • Music theory
    • Instruments
    • Brahms
    • Vivaldi
    • Bach
    • Tchaikovsky
    • Chopin
    • Andrea Bocelli
    • Beethoven
    • Mozart
    • Best classical music
    • Classic FM Live
    • Classic FM Requests
    • Best pianists
    • Harry Potter music
    • Saturday Night at the Movies
    • Star Wars soundtrack
    • Composer or pasta
    • Music for Studying
    • Best violinists
    • Classical music tearjerkers
    • Relaxing classical

    Useful Links

    • Contact Us
    • Help
    • How To Listen
    • About Classic FM
    • Company Details
    • Cookies
    • Privacy
    • Terms & Conditions
    • Advertise
    • Global Jobs

    Download the app

    Get it on the app store Get it on Google Play

    Follow Us

    Follow Classic FM on Twitter
    Follow Classic FM on Facebook
    Follow Classic FM on Instagram
    Follow Classic FM on Youtube
    © Global 2022
    30 Leicester Square, London, WC2H 7LA
    Privacy Manager