Contemporary Jazz
A broad, late-20th-century jazz umbrella for polished, melody-led, improvisation-friendly music that often borrows from fusion and R&B.
Origins and context
The label is used mainly by U.S. and international jazz criticism to describe mainstream jazz developments from the 1980s and 1990s, especially music that absorbed fusion, pop-jazz, smooth jazz, and R&B influences.
The sound
Characteristics
- Electric guitar
- Electric bass
- Acoustic piano
- Keyboards
- Drums
- Saxophone
- Trumpet
- Improvisation
- Polished studio production
- Syncopated groove
History
In the way music writers usually use the term, contemporary jazz is less a single school than a catch-all for mainstream jazz that took shape in the 1980s and 1990s. AllMusic’s overview places it in that era and links it to fusion, pop-jazz, smooth jazz, and contemporary funk rather than hard bop or the avant-garde. The style grew out of players who kept jazz’s improvising heart but embraced cleaner production, catchy themes, and the groove of electric instruments. Pat Metheny is one of the clearest reference points here: his early-1980s work such as Offramp helped define a broad, modern jazz sound that could travel comfortably between lyrical composition, rock and funk pulse, and global inflection.
Notable artists
- PMPat Metheny
- HHHerbie Hancock
- BMBrad Mehldau
- KRKurt Rosenwinkel
- DBDavid Benoit
Essential listening
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Explore connected genres
Sources and further reading
- Contemporary Jazz — AllMusic subgenre overview
- Pat Metheny
- Spotify
Spotify lists Offramp as a 1982 album by Pat Metheny, Lyle Mays, and Pat Metheny Group.
- Spotify
Spotify lists Secret Story as a 1992 Pat Metheny album.