Straight-ahead jazz

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Straight-ahead jazz is a term used to refer to a widely accepted style of jazz music playing that can be thought of as roughly encompassing the period between bebop and the 1960s styles of Wayne Shorter and Herbie Hancock.

As imprecise as the term is as used by jazz musicians, it can be loosely characterised by the following:

• A walking bass
• A swing 12/8 time signature in the drums
• In the piano, syncopated chords in the left hand, and melodic, mostly single-note soloing in the right hand
• A head followed by a solo by each melody instrument, and sometimes drums and bass, followed by a reprise of the head

However, many Latin rhythms are also sufficiently well-established to be considered straight-ahead. See also jazz waltz.

It is the Lingua franca of jazz jam sessions.