Modal jazz is jazz that makes use of musical modes, often modulating among them to accompany the chords instead of relying on one tonal center used across the piece.

Known performers in the 1950s and 1960s are : Miles Davis,  John Coltrane, Chick Corea, Bill Evans, Herbie Hancock, Joe Henderson, Bobby Hutcherson, Pharoah Sanders, Woody Shaw, Wayne Shorter, McCoy Tyner, and Larry Young.

Some musicians like Miles Davis and John Coltrane have ventured beyond the classical major and minor scales by using altered intervals between the usual keys, or so-called “greek” modes, making this music “modal” as opposed to “tonal”.
Milestones (1958), recorded on the album of the same name, is based on dorian and aeolian modes.