Utah has a rich and diverse sports history with numerous sports teams, and individual sports competitions. The state's most important professional team-sports franchise, the Utah Jazz, has a 35-year history in Utah and that history has been partially marked by the changes in the design of team jerseys.
Let's take you back to the beginning when the Jazz arrived in Utah after leaving the city of New Orleans in 1979, and review the Utah Jazz jersey designs for every significant period of the team’s history in Salt Lake City.
The Original Jazz Note
The jersey that fans are most familiar with and nostalgic for is also the one the Jazz wore for the longest period of time, at least in some format. It's the well-known "Jazz Note" design, featuring the "J" letter turned into a combination of a musical note and a basketball - one of the NBA's most distinctive designs.
Upon moving to Utah from New Orleans in 1979, the Jazz spent the next six seasons sporting white home jerseys and green road jerseys featuring the Jazz Note. In 1984, they swapped out their green roadies for purple - this purple color quickly became a fan favorite, often featured to this day in various throwbacks or vintage jerseys. The green would continue to make appearances, though, including on St. Patrick's Day games in the mid-80s and throwbacks in the 2000s.
The Jazz Note would remain the primary jersey design for the franchise all the way until 1996, a run of nearly 20 years consecutively. It's clearly the defining logo of the franchise.
The Mountains Era
Much of the John Stockton/Karl Malone era, however - and particularly its most successful years, including consecutive runs to the NBA Finals - came during what we'd call the "Mountains" era of Jazz jerseys. Honoring the vast mountain ranges that span the entire state, these jerseys had a mountain range surrounded by a copper circle, with "Jazz" overlaid on top.
A few different iterations came and went here, including black and copper alternates. And while the mountains would also eventually spawn plenty of nostalgia and many throwbacks, the Mountains era was actually pretty short - it only went from 1996 until 2004.
Post-Stockton and Malone
One of the blandest periods for Jazz jerseys, to be frank, came in the years directly following Stockton and Malone's departure. From 2004 through 2010, the franchise kept the same style of font design for the "Utah" part of their previous mountain designs - but scaled back the actual mountains in many of the jerseys for reasons unknown.
Now, this period did see some interesting color introductions. Powder blue and navy were both utilized regularly, and text was changed to a 3D format instead of traditional 2D.
Back to the Note
In 2010, the powers that be finally realized the nostalgia effect that the Jazz Note logo held for many fans of the franchise - and went back to it. While colors were mixed from the original note days, featuring white home unis with navy roads and green alternates, the note itself was unmistakable. While the entire franchise and league's jersey profile would become significantly more diverse after this era, this would mark the end of any significant period of time without some kind of Jazz Note featured in at least one jersey each season.
The Modern Era
From 2016 through the next several years, the standard approach to jerseys across the NBA began to shift - and expand. The NBA's contract with Adidas ended after the 2016-17 season and went to Nike instead, leading to a major uptick in the number of jerseys each team maintained within a given season or group of seasons.
Just from 2016 to 2022, the Jazz wore 10 separate jerseys - a far cry from the three or four options they wore over nearly 20 years in the original Note days. The Jazz Note remained the main logo for most jerseys, but others took their turns - including "city" jerseys that featured entertaining mountain gradients.
Controversial 2022 Rebrand
In 2022, as part of a mandate from new ownership, the Jazz re-branded to much more simplistic designs. These still featured the Jazz Note, but with simple block letters and either bright yellow or black colors. The only real creative jersey from this rebrand was a purple city jersey, a modern reinvention of the classic mountain setup.
Simply put, this rebrand was not received well by the majority of the fanbase. It was considered overly bland and similar to many high school jerseys in nature. To their credit, the franchise quickly recognized the error and has already pivoted away.
Back to the Mountains
Finally, in early 2024, the Jazz announced that they will be returning to the mountain theme - but not all at once. For the 2024-25 season, a new purple mountain city edition jersey is in place - and over the next couple years, these will be joined by black, white and a different purple "Icon" edition. One of these options, the black "Statement" edition set to debut in January of 2025, features both a mountain backdrop and the traditional Jazz Note.
This does mean that the white jerseys with yellow trim, which weren't especially popular, remain through the 24-25 season. But these will be phased out quickly.
And there you have it! The Utah Jazz have certainly gone through quite the evolution in their jersey designs over the years, but one thing remains constant: the iconic Jazz Note. Whether it's paired with mountains, bold colors, or simplistic designs, this logo will always represent the pride and passion of Utah's beloved NBA team. Who knows what future rebrands may bring, but for now, let's enjoy and appreciate the unique history behind each era of Jazz jerseys.
At Utah Guide, we are proud to call ourselves Utah Jazz fans - and we can't wait to see what new designs the team has in store for us in the years ahead. Go Jazz!
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