Jazz is a bold, creative style of music that musicians invent as they play. Born in New Orleans around 1900, jazz grew from a mix of African rhythms, blues, and other American musical traditions. Unlike classical musicians who play exactly what's written on the page, jazz musicians improvise, meaning they make up melodies and harmonies in the moment, responding to each other like a musical conversation.

A jazz band might include a trumpet, saxophone, piano, bass, and drums. While one musician plays a melody, others might add surprising rhythms or harmonies underneath, and then suddenly someone breaks into a solo, where they take the spotlight and create something entirely new. The other musicians keep the rhythm going, supporting and challenging the soloist at the same time.

Jazz has evolved through many styles over the decades: the swinging big bands of the 1930s and 40s, the complex melodies of bebop in the 1940s, and the experimental sounds of later years. Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, and Miles Davis became legends by pushing jazz in new directions.

As a verb, jazz can mean to make something more lively or stylish. The word has also come to mean style or excitement in other areas. You might hear someone say “and all that jazz” to mean “and everything else like that,” or describe something fancy as jazzed up.