Hence, the term "straight-ahead" jazz was formulated by critics and academics to describe music that did not employ fusion's innovations, such as rock beats and electric instruments.

[5] For example, Tanner, Gerow and Megill trace the straight-ahead aesthetic back to the hard bop era, after which some musicians would continue to be guided by jazz tradition when faced with boundary-pushing innovations.

[20] In the mid-1970s fellow jazz pianist Cedar Walton founded Eastern Rebellion, an ensemble with the traditional saxophone/piano/bass/drums format, with primarily acoustic instrumentalists ranging from George Coleman to Curtis Fuller and Billy Higgins joining the band on rotation.

Members of the Charles Lloyd Quartet, including drummer Jack DeJohnette, believed in "the flame of creativity and exploration" in avant-garde and fusion experiments through the decade.

His "homecoming" generated a great deal of enthusiasm, reviving interest in musical forms he and others had kept alive in Europe while they had fallen out of prominence in North America.

[28] Sidemen on the album included trumpeter Bill Berry, pianist Nat Pierce, bassist Monty Budwig, and drummer Jake Hanna.

[35] In the mid-1980s, saxophonist Stan Getz led a quartet including pianist Kenny Barron, bassist George Mraz, and drummer Al Foster.

1-2: The Last Great Concert (1988) was met with praise from critic Yanow, who noted his "inspired form" at the final recording before he landed, dead, outside a window in Amsterdam.

"[7] With the new decade, the influence of the Jazz Messengers reverberated throughout the hard bop world, with "wholehearted hard-bop revivalist" Ralph Peterson, Jr., leading a quintet in the style of Art Blakey's band.

[44] In 1990, longtime bebop and hard bop alto saxophonist Jackie McLean returned to playing after years of teaching at University of Hartford Hartt School.

[46] Another bop veteran, Freddie Hubbard, who had switched to fusion in the 1970s before joining the post-bop VSOP Quintet in 1977,[47] suffered a lip injury in 1992, severely impacting his career.

[55] In addition, all four members of the Modern Jazz Quartet died in the 1990s or 2000s: Connie Kay in 1994, Milt Jackson in 1999, John Lewis in 2001, and Percy Heath in 2005.

His debut as leader came with Straight Up for Delmark (1992), and by 1998 he had formed a quartet with pianist John Hicks, bassist George Mraz, and drummer Idris Muhammad to record the album Solid!

"[59] With the rise of social media websites such as YouTube, jazz artists and bands were able to obtain popularity without conventional album releases, propelling their success.

For example Barcelona-based multi-instrumentalist and teacher Joan Chamorro founded the Sant Andreu Jazz Band in 2006 and reached widespread audiences on the platform.

[62] On the second of these albums he recorded with Joe Farnsworth, who had developed a circle of straight-ahead jazz musicians including Marsalis, pianist Cedar Walton, and saxophonist Benny Golson.

[63] Farnsworth had previously used Augie's Jazz Club to play with bop musicians including Junior Cook, Harold Mabern, and Eddie Henderson before the venue was reformed under its current name, Smoke.

[65] He followed this with Feeling Good (2014), an album recorded with the Sant Andreu Jazz Band, including guitarist Josep Traver and drummer Esteve Pi.

[60] Young jazz pianist Emmet Cohen, taught by Brian Lynch, recorded with his former professor on Questioned Answer (2014); the album also included drummer Billy Hart and bassist Boris Kozlov on some tracks.

[71] Meanwhile other artists, such as Pasquale Grasso, maintained more specific brands of straight-ahead jazz, with the guitarist recording a "digital showcase series" with albums including Solo Standards and Be-Bop!