Music and Time Annotation << Back Jazz Today: Trends, Conceptions, Personalities I. Severina The article is devoted to the present condition of jazz – from its contemporary mainstream to synthetic forms and phenomena at the interface of this main direction in the development of the music of XX–XXI centuries. Also the author considers the general evolution of jazz in terms of the triad «syncretism – differentiation – synthesis», reflecting three main stages of almost every historical cycle, – to show appropriate and inevitable occurrence of synthetic phase. At the end of the article the author comes to the conclusion that the concept of contemporary mainstream, primarily associated with neo-bop (post-bop), should be reconsidered: today the «center of gravity» of jazz is shifting to synthetic styles – in varying degrees modernized jazz-rock with potential including of ethnic music or avant-garde. Moreover, such stylistic symbiosis is presented by the most creative musicians. Keywords: jazz, syncretism, differentiation, synthesis, mainstream. Contacts: E-mail: i.severina@mail.ru Pp. 09-15.