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Styles and Types of Jazz Music
JazzFuel
Matt Fripp

Because the term ‘jazz’ covers a very broad selection of music. Two recordings or musicians labeled as such may, at least superficially, appear to have very little in common with each other.

The first jazz recording was made in 1917 (by the Original Dixieland Jazz Band) and in the century or so since then the music has seen some radical innovations and upheavals.

In comparison, within Western classical music the Baroque period lasted for around 150 years (c. 1600-1750) and the Romantic period lasted approximately 110 years (c. 1800-1910).

Whereas we’ve had all of the following styles of jazz – and more – in the space of only 100 or so years, with most types enjoying a period of dominance for only a decade or so.

As always, things are more complex than this. People didn’t suddenly stop playing swing music when bebop appeared, and some musicians will have performed and recorded a range of different types of jazz.

Many don’t fit neatly into categories. Many of these ‘labels’ were pushed by the media or record companies, and the musicians themselves may not have identified themselves along these lines.

Of course, with internet access in the 21st Century it’s easier than ever to discover almost the entire history of jazz at the touch of a button, and there are now present-day musicians who play in all different styles of jazz.

So read on for our style-by-style recap and make sure you stay tuned to the end of the article where we have a downloadable graphic showcasing the some of the most famous jazz musicians in each style.

Early Jazz
Otherwise known as Trad Jazz or New Orleans Jazz, Early Jazz developed in the 1910s in the ‘melting pot’ of New Orleans, as players combined influences including ragtime, blues and marching band music to create a style of jazz that was heavy on collective, polyphonic improvisation.

Trumpeter Louis Armstrong was jazz’s first major soloist, and his recordings with his Hot Five and Hot Seven are some of the most important of the 20th Century. Bix Beiderbecke played in a lighter, ‘sweeter’ way than the more operatic Armstrong, with Bix’s trumpet often accompanied by the saxophonist Frankie Trumbauer. Ragtime pianist and composer Jelly Roll Morton was another key innovator of 1920s jazz and you can find out more about this joyous style of music in our article dedicated to Dixieland Jazz.

Dixieland Jazz – The Music, The Musicians & The History
The origins of jazz music as we’d recognize it today can be traced back to the early years of the 20th Century in the “melting pot” of New Orleans, as ragtime was fused with the city’s marching band tradition and various other influences. The style that was played during this period is now known as Dixieland jazz, or sometimes New Orleans music, traditional jazz or vintage jazz. The heyday of this idiom occurred during the 1920s, first in New Orleans and then Chicago, although there have been various revivals of the style since then and it retains a dedicated following. The exact lineup of Dixieland jazz bands will vary, but they typically include a front-line of trumpet (or cornet), clarinet and trombone, plus a rhythm section.

Unlike in later styles of jazz, the instrumentation is likely to be entirely acoustic. What’s more, clarinets are heard more commonly than saxophones, a banjo often replaces the guitar, and a tuba might feature in place of double bass. Collective, polyphonic improvisation is a key component, with the front-line instruments all playing interweaving lines around the melody to create a joyful cacophony of sounds. Stay tuned for a look (and a listen) to 10 great artists who play in a Dixieland style, with a recommended recording for each one.

Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong would later go on to become an all-round entertainer, best known for 1960s vocal hits like “Hello Dolly” and “What a Wonderful World”. But decades before that the trumpeter left his mark as one of the most stunning improvising soloists the jazz world has ever known. After growing up in New Orleans he relocated to Chicago where, in the mid-1920s, he recorded extensively with his bands the Hot Five and the Hot Seven. Tracks including “Struttin’ With Some Barbecue”, “Cornet Chop Suey” and “Potato Head Blues” define the “hot” jazz sound of the 1920s and place his bold, operatic trumpet at the forefront. Armstrong has a masterful command of melody and rhythm, making these some of the most important solos in the canon.

Recommended Louis Armstrong recording: Satchmo at Symphony Hall

In the 1930s Armstrong followed fashion and fronted a selection of big bands, in keeping with Swing era trends. But in 1947 this live recording saw him return to a classic Dixieland small band setting, with an all-star front-line of Louis on trumpet, Barney Bigard on clarinet and Jack Teagarden on Trombone.

Sidney Bechet
Along with Louis Armstrong, Sidney Bechet was one of the first major jazz soloists and, like Armstrong, he was also a New Orleans native. After starting out on the clarinet, he discovered the soprano saxophone whilst on tour in London, pioneering the use of the instrument in a jazz context. A virtuoso instrumentalist, he makes frequent use of intricate, lightning-fast arpeggiated runs, his sound (particularly on soprano) marked by an extremely wide, instantly recognizable vibrato effect. After some years of struggle, he was invited to play at a festival in Paris in 1949, where he met with an ecstatic reaction. Upon moving permanently to France, he found massive acclaim, becoming something of a national hero. He experimented with some French repertoire – “Si tu Vois ma Mere” is one of his best-known recordings – but remained true to the New Orleans style that he had developed in the 1920s.

Recommended Sidney Bechet album: Cafe de la Paix
This compilation album features “Perdido Street Blues” – a collaboration with Armstrong – as well one of his biggest hits, “Summertime”, and a particularly rousing solo on “China Boy”.

The Original Dixieland Jazz Band
The 1917 version of “Livery Stable Blues” by the Original Dixieland Jazz Band is generally considered to be the first ever jazz recording. This has been the subject of much discussion: it is worth noting that a group of white New Orleans natives were given the opportunity to document their music before a number of African American players who were of much greater musical historical importance.

Still, the Original Dixieland Jazz Band are certainly a significant outfit in the development of early jazz, and their records proved wildly popular.“Tiger Rag”, which is credited to the band’s cornetist Nick LaRocca, became a Dixieland standard. LaRocca, whose Scicillian heritage informed the band’s sound, would later court controversy by describing himself as the “creator of jazz” – a claim which is widely considered absurd. Originally called the Original Dixieland Jass Band, the ODJB later changed the antiquated (and arguably derogatory) “Jass” in their name to the more modern “Jazz”, helping to popularise the word.

Recommended Original Dixieland Jazz Band album: The First Jazz Recordings 1917-1921
As the title suggests, this record brings together those historic early tracks, like “Livery Stable Blues”, “Tiger Rag” and “Clarinet Marmalade”.

Bix Beiderbecke
Cornetist Bix Beiderbecke was another hugely influential stylist of the 1920s, with an approach that makes for an interesting comparison with that of Louis Armstrong. While Armstrong’s playing was bold and bluesy, Bix was lyrical and somewhat introspective, largely sticking to the horn’s middle register. Louis, in contrast, was capable of heading up into the stratosphere. The Iowa native was largely self-taught and used a non-standard fi*****ng technique. After making a selection of classic small band recordings early on, he joined Paul Whiteman’s highly popular dance band before tragically drinking himself to death at just 28 years old. He was also interested in impressionist classical music, and composed a number of intriguing piano pieces inspired by this sound world, including the beautiful “In a Mist”, which he recorded himself.

Recommended Bix Beiderbecke recording: Bix Beiderbecke Vol 1, Singin’ the Blues
Bix Beiderbecke made some of his greatest recordings with the C melody saxophonist Frankie Trumbauer. A number of classic performances and famous solos are included here, including “Riverboat Shuffle” and “Singin’ the Blues.”
Jelly Roll Morton
Never exactly the modest type, Jelly Roll Morton famously claimed to have been the inventor of jazz. That’s probably a bit of a stretch, but he was probably the first to write down and formally arrange the music, and he was certainly a pioneering stylist in the early days of New Orleans jazz. The pianist’s sound was informed by ragtime, a syncopated African American music that influenced jazz, but which was notated rather than improvised. As a composer and arranger he wrote a number of early jazz standards, including “Wolverine Blues”, “King Porter Stomp” and “Whinin’ Boy”.

Famous Jelly Roll Morton recording: Birth of the Hot
These classic 1920s recordings by Morton’s band the Red Hot Peppers combine pristine written arrangements with fiery collective improvisation.

Kid Ory
Kid Ory was one of the very first jazz trombonists, with one of his innovations being the development of the “tailgate” style, which saw him playing the lower harmonies below the trumpet and clarinet in the front-line of a traditional jazz band. His talent was first discovered by the New Orleans cornetist Buddy Bolden, a legendary figure who is considered to be the first improvising jazz musician, but who sadly never recorded. After Kid Ory became one of the top bandleaders in the city himself, his outfit included legendary players like Louis Armstrong and clarinetists Johnny Dodds and Jimmie Noone. He was an original member of Louis Armstrong’s Hot Five, with whom he recorded his composition “Muskrat Ramble”, which has gone on to become a Dixieland standard.

Recommended Kid Ory album: Kid Ory and Jimmie Noone – New Orleans Jazz
Kid Ory and clarinetist Jimmie Noone play trad jazz favorites like “That’s a Plenty” and “Savoy Blues” to an enthusiastic audience on this live album.

Jack Teagarden
The school of trombone playing pioneered by Kid Ory saw the instrument take a supporting role, playing in a rhythmic, punchy fashion below the other front-line instruments. Teagarden developed a more legato, soloistic way of playing, which put the trombone on more of an even footing with the trumpet. In the 1920s he played with Bix Beiderbecke, Louis Armstrong, Jimmy McPartland and Mezz Mezzrow, before taking on a full-time position with Paul Whiteman’s Orchestra in the 1930s as he sought financial security during the Great Depression. In the 1940s he was a member of Armstrong’s highly regarded All Stars band. Teagarden’s sweet, relaxed singing style also helped make him an incredibly popular bandleader.

Recommended Jack Teagarden album: Mis’ry and the Blues
Teagarden sings and plays on this soulful Verve album, which was recorded just three years before his 1964 death.
King Oliver
Oliver’s place in jazz history is inextricably tied up with his role in the Louis Armstrong story. He was Armstrong’s mentor and teacher, first giving him his own newly-vacated chair in Kid Ory’s ensemble, then summoning Pops to Chicago to join his own Creole Jazz Band on second cornet. Still, King Oliver was a great trumpet player and an important stylist in his own right, although he is not as well documented on records as he should be. His bands were innovative in their use of collective improvisation and he was able to achieve an extraordinary range of sounds by using different cornet mutes. He also composed a number of standards, including “Dippermouth Blues” and “Canal Street Blues”.“It was my ambition to play as he did. I still think that if it had not been for Joe Oliver, Jazz would not be what it is today. He was a creator in his own right.” – Louis Armstrong

Recommended King Oliver album: King Oliver & Louis Armstrong
This compilation album features the edition of Oliver’s band that placed the two trumpet greats – master and protege – side-by-side.

Henry “Red” Allen
Trumpeter Red Allen was one of the first musicians to assimilate the innovations of Louis Armstrong and fully take on board his influence. He also followed Armstrong’s career path, heading from New Orleans to Chicago in 1927 to play with King Oliver’s band. His impassioned trumpet sound was heard on recordings with Billie Holiday, Jelly Roll Morton, Fats Waller and Coleman Hawkins. Like many Dixieland and traditional jazz artists, he was fond of singing the melody of a tune before improvising around it on his instrument.

Recommended Henry “Red” Allen album: Red Allen, Kid Ory & Jack Teagarden at Newport.
It may have been recorded in 1957, long after the heyday of the Dixieland style, but the three veterans roll back the years on this rip-roaring live live album from the Newport Jazz Festival.

The Preservation Hall Jazz Band
The Preservation Hall Jazz Band was formed in the early 1960s out of an ensemble that played regularly at the Preservation Hall, a historic venue in New Orleans. Currently directed by Ben Jaffe, the band has featured numerous eminent musicians, including historic figures like “Sweet Emma” Barrett and Kid Thomas, and continues to tour internationally. With a stated aim of keeping the New Orleans jazz flame burning, they are one of a number of modern bands keeping the tradition alive.
Still, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band views it as a living, breathing history, rather than something to be slavishly recreated and, as such, they play original material and have collaborated with artists from outside of the jazz world.

Recommended Preservation Hall Jazz Band: Songs of New Orleans
The band interpret a selection of standards from their home city on this 1999 double album, which was recorded at their home venue.

Next week: Swing and Big band Jazz

BLACK HISTORY MONTH SPECIAL EDITION:
Black Artists Are Still Getting Ripped Off the Way Little Richard Was

By Drew Schwartz
Illustrated By Duanecia Evans Clark
VICE

Three years before Little Richard signed the record deal that would change his life, his father was murdered. Richard had 12 brothers and sisters, and as the eldest boy who wasn't off fighting in the Korean War, it fell on him to provide for his siblings and his mother. He was 19 years old. Unpaid Royalties is a series about the myriad ways that the music industry exploits Black artists—and what's being done to change them. He found work washing dishes at a Greyhound bus station in his hometown of Macon, Georgia, and scrounged up extra cash playing shows at hole-in-the-wall clubs throughout the Southeast. But no matter how many dishes he washed, no matter how many shows he played, he couldn't earn enough money to support his family.

"You know you're poor when you have to make a fire and you ain't got no wood," Richard later told his biographer. "I've seen people pull wood off their houses to make a fire in the house. That's poor. And I was one of the people pulling wood off the house."

His only hope, he thought, was to make a hit song, and he was desperate for a chance to record. He sent a demo to Specialty Records—one of the few labels working with Black artists in the early 1950s—and called them nearly every week for a year, begging them for studio time. In 1955, the label finally relented. Richard recorded five songs, four of which most people have never heard of. But one would go on to change the course of music history, laying the foundation for what later became known as rock 'n' roll: "Tutti Frutti."

A week and a half after it was released, "Tutti Frutti" had sold 200,000 copies; by 1968, it had sold more than 3 million, and Little Richard had become a superstar. Over the years, the song made millions of dollars for Specialty's owner, a white man named Art Rupe—but Richard received only a fraction of the proceeds. Rupe bought "Tutti Frutti" for $50, and paid Richard half a cent for every copy it sold. According to Richard's biographer, an unknown white artist in those days typically made ten times that much.

"If you wanted to record, you signed on their terms or you didn't record," Richard later told his biographer. "It didn't matter how many records you sold if you were Black…. The very thought of it is sickening to me now. [Art Rupe] made millions and he should owe me millions."

Fast forward 65 years, and that kind of egregious exploitation of a Black artist might seem unthinkable. But according to Black label executives, entertainment attorneys, and music business professors who spoke with VICE, not much has changed. All too often, major labels prey on young, poor Black artists, offering them lopsided record deals in which the company owns their music in perpetuity. In exchange, they're given cash advances that account for a fraction of what their music will ultimately bring in, and a minuscule percentage of the royalties their music earns.

"If you go back to the 50s, it's the exact same character sketch today: African-American, poor, looking for a way out of their circumstances, and using their talent as a way out," said Eric Holt, an assistant professor of music business at Belmont. "That is easy to exploit: 'Let's give them a little bit, and they don't even know the value of what they're selling us for this little bit.'"

Vince Phillips—an entertainment attorney with more than two decades of experience in hip-hop, who's represented Lil Baby, Kevin Gates, NBA YoungBoy, and Lil Keed—said he's witnessed that kind of exploitation firsthand. If a major label knows a Black artist needs to earn money quickly, Phillips said, they'll use that knowledge to pressure them into signing a bad contract.

"Sometimes artists are in situations where they have to take a deal," Phillips said. "If you are in a really bad, really desperate situation, and there is money there, and there is opportunity, and you need to get out of a particular circumstance, [labels] will say, 'Look, we don't know if this guy's even going to be around. We're taking a bigger risk because he's got these court matters coming, or we're taking a bigger risk because of this or that.' They're looking at the lifestyle and using that as the basis to say, 'This is a take-it-or-leave-it moment.' And many times an artist might say, 'I need this. Let's just go.'"

Black artists aren't the only ones who get trapped in inequitable deals, and it's certainly possible for a label to take advantage of a poor, under-resourced white artist in the same way. But according to Tonya Butler, a former entertainment attorney and label executive and the current chair of Berklee's music business program, it's much more common for a Black artist to get locked into a bad deal than a white one.

"Anybody can get a bad deal—but because of the inequities in education, and the economic disparity that exists, Black artists and brown artists are more susceptible to getting a bad deal," Butler said. "They often come from low-income circumstances, and they lack the necessary education and resources to find out more. I liken it to COVID: Everybody can get it, but Black and brown people are affected more intensely than others because of systemic inequities."

What a bad deal looks like has changed since Little Richard's era; where the abuses of the past were flagrant, these days, they're buried in lengthy contracts, hidden in legal language the average person would find impossible to understand. To negotiate a good deal with a major label, an artist needs to retain a sharp, experienced attorney. But according to Chuck Wilson, the founder and CEO of the independent hip-hop label Babygrande, Black artists don't tend to secure great representation—at least not at the rate their white counterparts do. They may not have the money to hire a stellar music attorney, the connections to find one, or, as is the case for many young and inexperienced artists, the wherewithal to know they need to seek one out to begin with.

"When you walk in the door, who's your team? As an artist, what access did you have to the best and brightest around you? That's the systemic part," Wilson said. "I've signed many white artists. These guys walk in the door with bell-ringing names. And then [for] a Black artist with minimal resources, it can range from a local family law person saying 'I'll read that for you' to lower-caliber lawyers."

If artists sign a contract without proper representation, there's no limit to how badly a label can rip them off, and there's no single, set example of what a bad deal looks like. But arguably the most exploitative agreement an artist can sign—and one Black artists often find themselves trapped in, according to the industry veterans who spoke to VICE—is a royalty deal tilted far in a major label's favor.

"So much of what we see in the record industry today came from the 50s.”

On the most basic level, under these agreements, any original master recordings you produce while under that contract are owned by your label in perpetuity—something that hasn't changed since Little Richard's heyday. In exchange for your masters, the label gives you a cash advance, part of which goes straight into your bank account, and part of which covers the cost of recording. Once your music is released, you begin the process of paying that advance back. You do that with the earnings from your releases—but you're only entitled to a percentage of those earnings, at a royalty rate set by the label.

Let's say a label gives you a $1 million advance to make an album, and a 10 percent royalty rate on your masters. Once your album has generated $1 million, whether that's through streams or sales, only 10 percent of that—$100,000—is yours, and it goes directly towards paying back your advance. Your album would have to net $10 million before you've managed to pay back your advance. Then, and only then, will you begin to see royalty money hit your bank account.

To Butler, the concept of a label owning your masters in perpetuity is fundamentally flawed.

"Technically, the label is owning something that you paid for," Butler said. "In how many industries do you pay for something that you don't own? Only music. When my bank loans me money to buy a house, they own the house—but once I pay them back, I own the house. That does not happen in music. Once you pay the label back, they still own it."

Low-rate royalty deals are bad enough on their own. But hard-to-spot, confusingly phrased stipulations in record contracts can make them even more egregious than they appear at first blush. In some cases, labels will carve out "deductions" on royalties based on a variety of factors, from the format by which your music is consumed to the territory where it's accessed. For example: A small sub-paragraph on page 43 of a contract might state that for all proceeds generated in Europe, an artist is only entitled to 70 percent of their "agreed-upon" royalty rate. If an artist's royalty rate is set at 10 percent, in the case of that deduction, it might quietly drop down to 7 percent for a large share of their earnings. That's just one of countless subtle, hidden provisions that might be tucked into a bad contract, Butler said.

"So much of what we see in the record industry today came from the 50s, and it is very standard language," Butler said. "They still include things like packaging deductions, where they take a deduction for packaging up the CD. They're not even releasing your music on CD anymore! Or they'll hold some of your royalties just in case there are returns from the store. There aren't any returns, because there aren't any CDs! So why are you still holding my royalties?"

There's no question that whether through predatory dealmaking, blatantly unfair contracts, or hidden clauses, Black artists are exploited by major labels. But it's difficult to say for certain that they're taken advantage of more frequently than their white counterparts. To prove that, we'd need evidence, and to get that evidence, we'd need to see contracts—but major label contracts are kept confidential. As long as labels refuse to make them public, the alleged discrimination at the heart of the music industry remains just that: alleged.

"That evidence is impossible to get to," Wilson said. "Why? Because all of the lawyers at the labels are under confidentiality agreements. All those deals are sealed under wraps, and no one can do a proper analysis or historical trace on 'What was AC/DC getting at the same time Run D.M.C. was poppin'?' We don't know. That analysis has never been done."

"We can say that because of systemic reasons, Black artists are getting worse deals—but we need to be able to see the extent to which that is true.”

Without access to contracts, the only window we have into how record companies may be exploiting Black artists today comes when those artists publicly air their frustrations with their labels. During a 2017 appearance on The Breakfast Club, Tyga claimed that his former label, Cash Money, swindled him out of $12 million by supplying him with the same lawyer that was representing the record company. Back in March, Megan Thee Stallion sued her label, 1501 Certified Entertainment, claiming that after locking her into an unfair contract when she was 20 years old, the company has refused to renegotiate it. Lil U*i Vert, Rich Homie Quan, Mase, and countless other Black artists have cried foul about what they say are exploitative deals—but because we can't dissect their contracts, there's no way to confirm those allegations for sure.

According to Butler, the Black Music Action Coalition (BMAC)—formed in June to address systemic inequality in the music industry—is working to get its hands on as many major-label record contracts as it can. From there, BMAC can begin to compile data on contract discrepancies between Black and white artists, diagnosing any inequities that might exist and pinpointing ways to address them. But until that happens, any solutions aimed at giving Black artists a fairer shake when it comes to major label deals would all be based on guesswork.

"We can say that because of systemic reasons, Black artists are getting worse deals—but we need to be able to see the extent to which that is true," Butler said. "Only data will provide that information. Without real data, we're just speculating, and that's why we can't pinpoint a response, or an answer, or a solution. It's buried in the true cause."

Butler, Wilson, Holt, and Phillips all agreed that Black artists are better positioned in the music industry now than ever before. Hip-hop is the most popular genre in America, and Black artists dominate it. Social media and music distribution platforms like SoundCloud have eliminated barriers to entry that were once insurmountable, allowing musicians to build a following and release their music without a record company's help. And information—on what a bad record deal looks like, or who the top lawyers in the music business are, or whether it's better to sign with an indie or a major—is readily available to anyone who seeks it. Black artists have leverage. The problem, Butler said, is that sometimes, they don't know how to use it.

"I see artists today as having power, but not recognizing their power," Butler said. "You don't recognize that you do have the power to negotiate, or the power that everyone has, which is just to say no, and to walk away and do it on your own. Little Richard couldn't walk away and do it on his own. And if you don't recognize your power, you may as well be Little Richard."

Later in life, Richard sued Art Rupe and Specialty Records, seeking upwards of $100 million for what he claimed were decades worth of unpaid royalties. The lawsuit was ultimately settled out of court for an undisclosed amount. He spent his final years in Tennessee, living at the Hilton in downtown Nashville with his adopted son, Danny Penniman. The two of them were close; over the years, Penniman told Rolling Stone, his father had spoken often about how badly he'd been ripped off by Specialty, and how bitter he was that—despite his wild success—he'd never been paid the money he was due. But by the time he died in May of 2020, Penniman said, Richard had resigned himself to the fact that he would never get what he was owed.

"He came to the reality of what it was: That’s his life," Penniman said. "In the later years, he was at peace with it.”