| altoist |
in jazz, one who plays alto saxophone. |
| big band |
a large jazz or dance band, esp. one of the 1930s and 1940s in the U.S., that combines arranged ensemble playing with solo improvisations. [2 definitions] |
| Billie Holiday |
U.S. jazz singer, also known as Lady Day; born Eleanora Fagan (b.1915--d.1959). |
| blues |
(used with a sing. or pl. verb) a style of jazz developed by American blacks, usu. having a twelve-bar structure and frequently composed in a minor key. [1/2 definitions] |
| boogie-woogie |
strongly rhythmic piano jazz in which the melody is accompanied throughout by a repeated bass pattern that uses chiefly eighth notes. |
| bop1 |
a form of jazz music having complex rhythms and harmonies which overlay and frequently obscure the melody. |
| bossa nova |
a musical blend of jazz and samba, or the Brazilian dance performed to such music. |
| Cab Calloway |
U.S. jazz singer, performer, and bandleader (b.1907--d.1994). |
| cat1 |
(slang) a person, esp. a jazz devotee. [1/4 definitions] |
| chops |
(slang) in jazz or rock music, technical skill. |
| combo |
a small band of musicians, usu. playing popular music such as jazz or rock. [1/2 definitions] |
| comp1 |
to play an accompaniment to jazz music, as on a piano or guitar, often of syncopated chords. |
| Dixieland |
an early style of small-group jazz, characterized by a strict two-beat rhythm and by improvised ensemble and solo playing. [1/2 definitions] |
| Ella Fitzgerald |
U.S. jazz and popular ballad singer, known especially as a virtuoso of scat singing (b.1917--d.1996). |
| group |
a small musical band, esp. of pop or jazz musicians. [1/5 definitions] |
| gutbucket |
jazz played in a raucous, unsophisticated style. |
| high-hat2 |
a pair of cymbals mounted on a stand and struck together by means of a foot pedal, used esp. by drummers in jazz and rock bands. |
| jam1 |
to participate in an informal and improvisational session of music playing, esp. of jazz or rock-'n'-roll. [1/12 definitions] |
| jam session |
an informal gathering, esp. of jazz musicians, to play improvisations together. |
| jazz |
a form of music characterized by improvisation and complex rhythms, with early influences of ragtime and blues. Jazz originated among Black musicians during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in America. Jazz has continued to evolve and to influence new forms of modern music in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. |
| jazzman |
a man who plays or composes jazz music. |