5. LEARN ABOUT MODERN JAZZ MOVEMENTS

The three Avant-garde styles (Modal Jazz, Free Jazz, and Fusion) are still in use, but there are newer, as yet unnamed styles. After all, music styles usually get their names after the fact as a way to describe the work of particularly influential musicians, so instead of worrying about labels, you should just seek out good groups. Here are some tips:

  • Among the best to look for right now are Medeski, Martin, and Wood (MMW), a jazz trio that has Free and Fusion and Bop and Hawaiian (!) and probably the best pianist of our generation.

  • Try to find a Steve Coleman album-he has experimented with ensemble improv with bands of as large as 20 people, and plays some hot stuff with his band The Five Elements.

  • Another good band playing today is the James Taylor Quartet-don't worry, it's not that James Taylor. JTQ is on the Acid Jazz label (a good label's catalog to look through, along with Blue Note).

  • Although he's been around for a while, John McLaughlin is still very much on the cutting edge of jazz. He successfully works distortion-traditionally considered only appropriate for rock musicians-into the repertoire of jazz guitarists. He has also produced many unique sounds by combining jazz with musical forms those of other regions, from Central America to India.

Of course, in today's music, the lines between jazz, rock, and electronica are all blurring. Phish improvises all the time, DJs sample jazz riffs constantly, and Bluegrass bands play at jazz festivals. But that doesn't mean that jazz is going to become boring; if it does, you can bet that someone will change it all over again.

Whoever you're seeing and wherever you're at, a jazz concert is worth seeing. Jazz isn't meant to be captured on CDs, since it's about the moment and improvisation. Lots of shows have been recorded (and the studio albums generally do their improvs on the spot), but it just isn't the same. To be there as it happens is the experience, whether in a tiny jazz cafe or at Carnegie Hall.

In the meantime, though, you should start out by listening, just so you can get a feel for the music. Here are a few album suggestions to whet your appetite:

Miles Davis
Birth of the Cool
Kind of Blue
Bitches Brew

John Coltrane
My Favorite Things
Giant Steps
Blue Trane

Herbie Hancock
Headhunters

John McLaughlin
The Inner Mounting Flame

Steve Coleman
The Tao of Mad Phat

MMW
Notes from Underground
Shackman
Combustication

JTQ
A Few Useful Tips about Living Underground