Jazz has been variety of styles and developed for a century. These styles are categorzed Dixieland jazz, swing jazz and big band, bebop, cool jazz, hard bop, modern jazz and new age jazz, and neoclassicsm typically. First of all, Dixieland jazz became widely imitated and defined in the 1920's. The earliest jazz recodings are from the 1920's and early 30's. trumpet/vocalist Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong was the most important figure of this period. His style of group, Hot Five and Hot Seven, are referred to as New Oleans jazz or Dixieland. The middle 30's was the swing era and big band as the popular music of the day. One of the most important big band is Count Basie Orchstra. In this band, Lester Young, tenor saxophnist, influenced Charlie "Bird" Parker who was the most important alto saxophonist in the next era. The bebop era came in the 1940's. It was considered as the beginning of modern jazz because Charlie "Bird" Parker was the father of this movement. After Charlie "Bird" Parker's death in 1955, the bebop era had almost ended. The next period of development during the early 1950's was cool jazz. Its roots may be traced to the elegant, linear swing style of the tenor saxophonist Lester Young, a featured sololist with the Count Basie orchestra. At the same time, another style of jazz was hard bop started in the 1950's. It has been described as an extention of bebop and backlash against cool jazz. The period from the middle 1950's until the middle 1960's represents the peak of mainstream modern jazz. The typical band was Miles Davis Quintet which consists of John Coltrane on tenor saxophone, Red Garland on piano, Paul Chamvers on bass. and "Philly: Joe Jones in drums. During these same decades of the 1950's adn 1960's some musicians took in directions that are more exploratory. The terms, free jazz and avant grade, are often used to describe these approaches, in which traditional forms, harmony, melody, and rhythem were extended considerably or abandoned. Saxophonist ornette Coleman and trumpeter Don Cherry were pioneers of this music through albums such as The Shape Of Hazz To Come and Free Jazz. In the middle to late 1960's Miles Davis helped the fusion jazz and rock. In recent years, several fusion vands have achieved much commercial success. including those of Pat metheny and Kenny G. Neoclassicism is a return to the bebop and post bop roots of modern jazz. Trumpeter Wynton Marsalis and his brother, saxophonist Branford Marsalis, have adhieved much popular success playing music that is based on styles of the 1950's and 1960's.