Oleg Negruţa is a notorious figure in the history of national music. He imposed himself through his prodigious activity as a composer, but also a faithful teacher who educated a great number of disciples. As a composer, he writes a series of works in different musical genres such as instrumental and vocal chamber works, symphonic, vocal-symphonic and concertante works. Oleg Negruţa’s compositional style is a mixture of national, classical and jazz music. Thus, in this paper we will try to characterize and highlight the side of jazz music present in the creation of the master. In this sense, the jazz element represents an influential factor on O. Negruţa’s compositional style and defines his musical thinking, constituting its specific feature. However, the impact on his personality is derived from the characteristics of African-American folk music, in this sense, we will present a historical-general incursion into jazz music, which the composer takes and places in most of his works.