Ethno Jazz, sometimes called World Jazz, a form of Ethno Music, is sometimes equaled to world music or is regarded as its successor, particularly before the 1990s. An independent meaning of "Ethno Jazz" emerged around 1990 with globalisation and later the Internet as well as the commercial success of Ethno groups and musicians. From the American and European view, interpretations from developing countries, particularly the developing southeast Asia and the People's Republic of China, became important. The origin of World Jazz has been credited to John Coltrane.
Whereas global regions like India, Latin America and Africa had been reached already before 1990, they regained importance in the form of Ethno Music, and Ethno Jazz in particular. Notable examples are the emergence of jazz through the interaction between New Orleans and Cuba, the Afro-Cuban jazz in the 1940s and 1950s, Arab influence in Jazz in the 1950s and 1960s and Indian influence through The Beatles and Rock Jazz of the 1960s and 1970s.
Ethno Jazz, particularly from the 1990s, meant Jazz was in accordance with the more American and European view, but realised with the typical musical differences of non-American and -European regions, particularly the expanding centres of Southeast Asia and China. Superficially, and out of an American and European view, Ethno Jazz is sometimes not as Jazz, but probably something similar missing a more suitable classification.
During the 1990s, after the end of the long-time Cold War between east and west, there was a global enthusiasm about the development of Ethno-Musik, especially Ethno Jazz. The rapidly growing megacities (over 10 million inhabitants, like Tokyo, Seoul, Shanghai, Jakarta, Bombay, São Paulo, Mexico City) further promoted substantial urbanisation based development of Ethno Jazz.