Is New Age music part of classical or jazz music?

I once went to a record store and there they put the New Age music albums in the "classical" section, but in the other record stores I've visited, some of them classified New Age under the "jazz" section. So I'm curious, is New Age music part of classical or jazz music? Or is it an entirely different genre that has no connection whatsoever to those two genres? Most people I asked tend to classify New Age as part of jazz music. I dunno the truth of it so I ask here.





Are there any of you here who likes New Age music? Would you consider New Age musicians part of "jass crossover" (or perhaps "classical crossover") artists? For any of you here at Y/A who majors in jazz music, do you also learn about New Age music during your education/training?





Thanx in advance.





P.S My question is simply for asking. I have nothing against New Age music nor its artists. In fact, I like some New Age artists e.g. Karl Jenkin's Adiemus, Enya, and Deep Forest.

Is New Age music part of classical or jazz music?
New Age is a category all by itself. I wouldn't put it with Beethoven and I wouldn't put it with Miles Davis.
Reply:Records stores have limited space with which to organize music. They use their discretion when sorting New Age into Jazz. The link here may be Smooth Jazz, which is truly a hybrid of many genres. It is not uncommon to hear Enya or David Lanz on a Smooth Jazz station. Just the other day I heard Jamiroquai and Earth, Wind and Fire on a Smooth Jazz station; sorting New Age into Smooth Jazz, which belongs to Jazz, is not that big of a leap. I would be more hesitant to sort any of the above into Classical...while I love Smooth Jazz/New Age artists, they are certainly not in the same league as Chopin or Gershwin.





Except Keiko Matsui, she's awesome. ;)
Reply:If you follow the line of music history, you'll find that the answer is Yes and Yes. In its original form (then called Jass), Jazz music was born out of the synthesis of Western classical music theory and African rhythm. The cause of the hybrid music was the mixing of many cultures at the turn of the 20th century New Orleans.





I would sooner classify New Age music as jazz rather than classical. If one were to harmonically analyze your typical New Age tune, they would find that the harmonies are more relative to simple jazz. Certainly, most New Age music is not consistent with the more limited harmonic language of the true Western Classical period (Late 17th to Late 18th Centuries).





As far as the musicians go, there are New Age artists that are either crossovers from jazz or play the style in some form in their music: Kenny G and George Winston to name a couple.





In my jazz training here at the Crane School of Music we did not touch on New Age music. I really love the sound of George Winston, as I used to emulate him as a kid. Most of the jazz musicians I hang with really bash that genre of music.





Hope that helps.





Stay well,


Jbrickman


http://killgig.wordpress.com


http://www.jbrickman.com


http://jbrickman.wordpress.com
Reply:I agree with the answerer that New Age is in a category on its own. New Age consists of various sub-genres, like jazz or classical. There is orchestral, vocal, eastern-influence, minimalist and electronic sub-genres that are incorporated in this genre.





I suppose that at some point in the future, some of this could make its way into modern/contemporary orchestral music, especially the pieces by Karl Jenkins and Mannheim Steamroller. In that manner, I suppose that you could consider these artists somewhat 'classical crossover'. I would consider Enya as much 'world music' as 'new age', as she crosses over those genres.





I don't believe any schools educate on 'New Age' music per se. However, many of its elements, such as minimalism, chord density, neo-classicism and electronic music are most definitely elements within modern/contemporary orchestral music. For example, composers like Harold Budd and John Adams could conceivably be mistaken for new age if presented in such a format.





Good question...