Jazz from 1957 to 1967 was the most definitive.

"As bop and later hard bop distanced itself from danceability and stopped being an easy listening experience, jazz became a niche musical product."

That's very true! The most popular music forms almost always lend themselves to dancing. I don't see that changing much in the foreseeable future. A tough fact for those more attuned to the art, content and sound quality to accept!

Onhwy61 speaks many truths!

Elizabeth, a decade in music is fuzzy; one of my favorite "jams" is "Senior Blues" which was on "Six pieces of Silver", by Horace Silver, recorded in 1956.
This decade also included "West coast jazz", it came and it went. While I recall some of the musicians; Gerry Muligan, Shelly Mann, Bob Brookmeyer and others, I do not have the best examples of this genera in my collection.
I am defining this music by a certain sound. While I can not communicate this sound in words, we jazz lovers know it when we hear it.

ALL music from the 'past' seems definitive or, 'more important' than music that's created today or in the recent past. Of course I'm not arguing about the relevance of the music or the musicians as it's undisputably excellent. It just seems to me that currently, the modern music-lover can't help but be jaded due to exposure to ALL music from ALL time periods. Again, while the thread is about old Jazz (which I love and have hundreds of LP's & CD's) I'm making a really wide statement about music in general.

I would agree. I started into jazz in 1957, doing live concerts and recordings. I had the pleasure to hear in person Miles, Baker, Desmond, Brubeck and many others, all in New York City. I also was able to sit in on some of the Columbia recording sessions at the 30th Street studio. Clearly, a golden age.

Agree with Chazro. It is easily to glorify the past and call something a "Golden Age." Did anyone know it was a "Golden Age" when it was in real time? Probably not. There could be a Golden Age (in any genre) in the making right under our noses. The key is to keep exploring what's out there currently.