Hi Grub: Jazz has become a popular catch all music genre label these days for music which doesn't fit solidly into any other category, ei: new age jazz, lite jazz, classic jazz, jazz-funk, traditional jazz, acid jazz, hip-hop jazz, etc. Everyone from Miles Davis to Kenny G & Michael Bolton have been labeled jazz musicians, the later to the consternation of many (including myself).



From a historic standpoint, the roots of jazz began in New Orleans (dixieland) marked by it's syncopated rhythm (swung 8th note vs straignt 8th note feel) and instrumental & vocal improvisation over the chord (changes) of a song, which include altered chord tones (b9,#9,etc), and incorporation of the blues. The swing era was followed by the Bebop era of Charlie Parker, and later continued to evolve to free jazz etc. I personally enjoy & play most the tunes of the classic 'swing' jazz era. Here's a link to a site that I just stumbled upon which covers the subject of jazz in a lot more detail: http://www.pbs.org/jazz/

I also recommend checking out the film documentary available on DVD entitled: Jazz, a film by Ken Burns: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00004XQOU/102-7260321-1391328?v=glance

This may even be available for rental at your local video/DVD store.

Scott