An alphabetical listing of jazz groups and performers. Individuals are listed Lastname, Firstname. When possible, individuals are listed by primary instrument, and bands are listed by primary jazz style, for example smooth jazz or swing.

This style developed in the 1940s, emphasizing chordal improvisation in place of the melodic improvisation associated with traditional and swing jazz. Practitioners played without regard for dancers, finding hostility from many swing musicians but attracting fans excited over the new direction. Bebop essentially replaced swing as the default jazz style.

Genre characterized by an instrumentation consisting of three sections of horns (trumpet, trombones, and saxes) and a rhythm section consisting of piano, bass, drums, with optional guitar and vibes. Most big bands play swing and jazz but many play virtually any musical style. Many are named for their leaders. Careful arranging is needed to avoid anarchy, but jazz big band arrangements allow plenty of room for improvisation. Characteristic writing utilizes call-and-response phrasing by the horn sections as well as harmonized tutti ensembles. The Big Band Era is generally considered to date from the mid-1930s to the end of World War II, the heyday of such leaders as Glenn Miller, Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey, Count Basie and Chick Webb. The postwar decline of "name" bands is blamed on the rise of singers as solo artists, but renewed interest in the genre can be credited to authentic re-creations and new arrangements recorded by modern vocalists such as Linda Ronstadt and Harry Connick, Jr. Many communities boast big bands which meet to rehearse and to play for dances attended by seniors, made possible in part because musicians will play for little or no money just to be part of a big band. On the other hand, bands consisting of the best local and regional musicians command top dollar when enlisted to play for society benefits and parties, or to accompany touring singers whose arrangements typically call for groups of sixteen pieces or even more. The style is an oddity, then, attracting hobby performers like a folk art but requiring carefully prepared arrangements like a fine art. University music departments are an important center of training for big band performers, not only as a source of arrangements but also as a place to learn how to phrase correctly so as to blend with a section.

For links to jazz categories in the Regional branch of the directory.

For venues featuring jazz.

People who write music incorporating jazz elements such as improvisation, jazz rhythms or blues harmony. While jazz composers also play instruments, they are identified primarily with their original works. Includes songwriters whose works are favored by jazz performers as well as those who write full ensemble scores for band or orchestra.

Includes sites concerned instructional methods and educational materials for jazz students, as well as sub-categories for jazz schools, colleges, camps and workshops.

Two partially overlapping styles which may either use less compositional structure or highly structured writing in deliberately unexpected ways, or elements of both.

Sites containing information on the jazz fusion style of music which was launched by Miles Davis and blends rock, funk and jazz.

For listings of jazz sites organized by topic or location.

For sites looking at early jazz as well as those placing jazz from any era in a historical perspective.

For photographs of jazz performers, shows and venues.

In the 1960's Jazz Funk began as a fusion of jazz and funky Southern soul, heavily influenced by Sly and the Family Stone. By the 1970's, it became more like a jazzy version of R&B, and grew smoother during the 1980's and 90's. In British underground music scene it was known as "rare groove."

A jazz style term used for music closer to cool jazz, swing and traditional jazz than to bebop, hard bop, fusion, smooth jazz or other jazz styles. Mainstream is sometimes referred to as straightahead jazz.

For the means of dissemination of information about jazz as opposed to the music itself. Includes timely coverage by mass media such as magazines, e-zines, newspapers, radio, and television, as well as non-recurring works such as books and movies.

For broadcast jazz programming aired or available in more than one area, and for streamed online jazz. Individual stations should be listed in a Regional category corresponding to coverage area.

Piano music of the early 1900s by African-American composers such as Scott Joplin, and band and orchestral scores imitating the original piano compositions. Characterized by left-hand alternating bass notes and chords, and syncopated melodies in the treble. Often in march tempos and march form, complete with trio in relative key, but many rags were slower than commonly believed. Tremendously influential as a precursor to jazz, but also embraced as a symbol of American culture by popular songwriters such as Irving Berlin and George Gershwin.

Sites listed here will provide a comprehensive overview of Jazz. Resource sites typically include general information about a topic, and provide directories, FAQs, chats and forums, publications etc.

Also sometimes known as cool jazz or light jazz, smooth jazz is the most popular name for a sub-genre characterized by insistent rhythmic patterns, especially lighter disco and Latin dance beats, and the use of synthesizers and sophisticated production techniques. Smooth jazz sells more recordings than any other type of jazz. Well-known artists include saxophonists Kenny G and David Sanborn, guitarist George Benson, and vocalist Sade.

Swing is a sub-genre of jazz characterized by rhythmic tension created when part of a band drags the beat back while other instruments drive it forward, and associated with rhythmic dances such as the jitterbug and the lindy hop. It was created by big bands of the 1930s including those of Benny Goodman and Fletcher Henderson, and popularized by such groups as the Glenn Miller Orchestra. Big bands as well as smaller combos have continued to play swing music into the 21st Century. New Swing orchestras of the 1990s used younger musicians and edgier attitudes to attract fans in their teens and 20s much as Benny Goodman did some 60 years earlier.

Features group improvisation by trumpet, trombone and clarinet over a rhythm background, followed by solo choruses in turn and a group reprise. Repertoire includes numbers derived from marches such as "Muskrat Ramble," but also uptempo renditions of Tin Pan Alley standards, especially those from the Roaring Twenties, as well as a few slower tunes such as "Basin Street Blues." Associated with the white musicians who learned jazz from the African-American musicians of New Orleans. This historical style is still played in the 21st century, especially at parties but also at patriotic and political events.