It is urban in the sense that it came to be as a result of mass migrations towards major cities in the American south and the posterior establishment of nightclub culture.
Jazz can easily fall into both the “art” and urban popular categories while at the same time not being really any of the two with absolute certainty. It is urban in the sense that it came to be as a result of mass migrations towards major cities in the American south and the posterior establishment of nightclub culture. Furthermore, it is also related to the fact that it is to this day a style much based on improvisation and chance events which separate it from the absolute determinacy of “art music”. On the other hand, Jazz has been suggested countless times as the first truly American “art” music style due to the fact that it, differently from other popular styles, has cultivated a highly elaborate musical discourse which emphasizes complexity of structure and a rich harmonic surface. Furthermore, although not as precise as that of western classical music, Jazz also features a written tradition which separates it from other popular and traditional styles which are mostly based on oral tradition or recordings.