| MAIN PAGE Jazz HISTORY OF JAZZ: JAZZ SLANG: JAZZ DICTONARY: MP3 Gabmling |
Contemporary JazzThe appearance of contemporary jazz in the late 80's and early 90's shows the desires for the popular public to embrace the world of jazz. Comtemporary jazz yields a blending of of the soft "cooler" jazz sounds with the smoother sounds of popular music to give a more relaxed, background listening style of music. The rhythmic drive of the bass and drums are often overshadowed and downplayed so as to give the music less of a driving beat which propels other jazz styles such as bop. This requires a less concentrated listening effort on the part of the listener yet still allows a great listening pleasure. The lack of complex harmonic interplay between the rhythm and lead allows less intentive listening and analysis of the music which has opened up this style to a broader range of listeners that generally otherwise have avoided the jazz idiom. A number of well-known jazz artists who began performing in the post-bop realm have embraced this style. George Benson, John Scofield, Pat Metheny, Jim Hall are all artists how have in the more recent years trasitioned into this softer style of playing. Some of the newer players entering into this genre include Kenny G, Earl Klugh, Richard Elliott, and groups such as the Yellowjackets and Fourplay.
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