At the end of the decade, where does jazz stand?

Is it the proud tradition of America’s “classical music,” rooted in the blues but now happily subsumed into the academy? Is it the domain of no-holds-barred experimentalism, where standard ideas of harmony and rhythm have grown passé? Or is it an ever-evolving form of black music that allows young virtuoso musicians to incorporate pop, hip-hop and electronics into new styles that sound like our information-overloaded, 21st-century lives?

All three are valid answers — and as the past 10 years have shown, it’s the friction between them that keeps jazz’s engine running.

A decade ago, musicians were still working to outrun the ideology of Neo-Classicism. Today, the two other definitions have the edge.

A decade ago, New York was still the undeniable center of the jazz world, where young musicians fresh out of school would inevitably flock to compete for gigs. But the past 10 years have seen the resurgence of local jazz scenes — especially in Chicago and Los Angeles, as well as London — where young musicians can sometimes play a greater role as organizers and outside-the-box collaborators, and can stay connected to the heritage of their hometowns.