Jazz Meaning
/d͡ʒæz/Definition, CEFR level A2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA musical art form rooted in West African cultural and musical expression and in the African American blues tradition, with diverse influences over time, commonly characterized by blue notes, syncopation, swing, call and response, polyrhythms and improvisation.
nounEnergy, excitement, excitability.
Sentence Examples
As is often the case with educated people, he likes classical music better than jazz.
Modern jazz is not to my taste.
Apart from sports, I like listening to jazz music.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The club played smooth ____ on the saxophone and piano every night.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
He enjoys listening to ____ music while he works, as it helps him to relax and to focus better.
Word Origin & History
Unknown. First attested around 1912 in a discussion of baseball; attested in reference to music around 1915. Numerous references suggest that the term may be connected to jasm and jism.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"You dare to bring your jazz songs into my house!"
— 1927, Samson Raphaelson, Alfred A. Cohn, The Jazz Singer, spoken by Jakie Rabinowitz (Al Jolson):
"Of later composers of Jewish musical plays we mention Joseph Rumshinksy (born in Wilna in 1879), who gained popularity in New York. His music is based upon folk motives and influenced by "Jazz" rhythms and melodic curves"
— 1929, Abraham Zevi Idelsohn, Jewish Music: Its Historical Development, page 454:
"You all look out now, here I come, everybody step aside, I’m gonna show you where from! I'm gonna blow in this horn and make you know that jazz is the king and let it be so!"
— 1946, Milton “Mezz” Mezzrow, Bernard Wolfe, “Not too Far Tangent”, in Really the Blues, New York, N.Y.: Random House, book 1 (1899–1923: A Nothin’ but a Child), page 30:
"You see, the kids, they listen to the rap music which gives them the brain damage. With their hippin', and the hoppin', and the bippin', and the boppin', so they don't know what the jazz…is all about! You see, jazz is like the Jello Pudding Pop—no, actually, it's more like Kodak film—no, actually, jazz is like the New Coke: it'll be around forever, heh heh."
— 1995 April 30, Mike Reiss, Al Jean, “'Round Springfield”, in The Simpsons, season 6, episode 22, spoken by Bill Cosby (Dan Castellaneta):
"“You want something zippy there. Something with a bit of jazz to it!”"
— 1923 May 17, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, “(please specify the page)”, in The Inimitable Jeeves, London: Herbert Jenkins, →OCLC:
Explore More A2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The club played smooth ____ on the saxophone and piano every night.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
He enjoys listening to ____ music while he works, as it helps him to relax and to focus better.