From the article: Jazz, the Reluctant Valetudinarian
By some accounts, the jazz audience is slipping. On the other hand, jazz music is as vibrant as ever. Is the future of jazz bleak, or is the jazz world worry-free? Share Your Thoughts
The Bar is set too high.
- The music is hard to even conceive by many musicians..the watering down, renaming and ultimately so called funeral of the music is the escape clause of those not up to the challenge..If you are a true Jazz Musician it is your heartbeat, your energy. Cannot be destroyed.
- —Guest Jazz Noir
jazz is immortal
- Just listen to Arturo Sandoval from Cuba and other oldtime artists out there. All America needs is just a little education. If the Florida A&M band and its leaders had a little more savvy they might have a chance at producing a few good combos. What the country needs is a few less scam artists and a few more good jazz club owners (corn liquor, cheap beer, and all).
- —Guest starkness
Jazz future bleak?
- The key ingrediants at the center of jazz; improvisation, call and response, it's dancability and a shared familiarity of the songs being played by both the players and spectators. This has been around long before we have called it jazz. As time goes by rythm's change, instrumentation changes and new songs are written. The music being performed now that incorporates all these aspects and which is done live. (I forgot that ingrediant) is todays jazz. But we may not call it jazz because it doesent have the traditional bass piano drums sax and trumpet instruments, or the song is not a standard, or it's not in 4/4 time. Perhaps the improvisational parts of each player don't occur in the same old order. Maybe the music is just labeled something else. Jazz as a music label is taking a seat next to classical music. Yes it's gotten old. All the ingrediants that made it what it was in it's youth are alive and well though.
- —Guest J. Warner
Jazz may become NY's music alone
- ...unless the young trend to clubs and bands can make it out of Brooklyn. It's a question of the infrastructure required to make a scene. And nobody talks much about exactly what it takes - except to say something or another about New York. Jazz scenes and styles coexisted in several US cities in the 50s and 60s, linked by a club circuit in many smaller cities. But since then the music has largely had to retreat to New York, leading the critical and talent arbitors to narrow their focus to New York players, audiences, and economics. Even if you have to work mostly in Europe, you need to book out of New York or close by. Unless somebody figures out how to use these here internet thingymabobs in a truly creative and venturesome way, (bypassing the old-school record and club management network), jazz of any kind is in danger of becoming a regional taste - a music the rest of America thinks has nothing to offer them and nothing to do with them. The New York scene is insular enough now.
- —Guest SomeSaxGuy
jazz alive though limited
- Jaz is alive. We go to concerts and clubs constantly and, though we are among the gray-haired audience, we see younger people attending and loving the music. Three per cent of sales are jazz CD's and many of those are by dead people. Jazz broadcasting does not include as many young artists as it should. Some organizations, such as JALC and Jazz House Kids, are getting to school children and their teachers to show them the great music and how to incorporate priciples of jazz into the non-jazz curriculum. Artists are incorporating the pop standards of today into the jazz repertoire. I agree that etertainment has too often been scorned by artists and an insufficient connection is made between audience and the music. No one needs to be a clown, but, as much as I love the music, that personal touch is very useful in making loyal fans. Christian McBride and Lou Donaldson are just two of those who do connect even though they are from distant generations of players. Jazz will be here.
- —Guest bheckman
jazzin
- I read your list of 10 bebop artists. How could you not list the "Father of Bebop", Charlie Christian? Shame on you! jazzin
- —Guest Anita G. Arnold
re: Can Jazz be saved?
- Being a musician, I am, of course, biased but the good news is that I do believe jazz can be saved. The bad news is, I doubt that it will. The art of melodic improvisation flourished when it was part of the popular music of the '20's through the big band era. Kids who were buying records could relate to it physically through dancing. In order to awaken the public's atrophied ears to our beloved art form, that connection would have to be reestablished. A golden opportunity was missed during the GAP commercial inspired mini swing craze of the mid to late '90's. It got young people swing dancing. The craze ended because, not suprisingly, people became bored with the music even though the players wore funny hats and twirled their instruments and made every effort to be visually entertaining. Why? Maybe we should be a little scientific about this. Not rocket science, mind you, because we are talking about entertainment here. Back in the '70's, when dance clubs still hired
- —Guest Lucian Williams
Jazzscope Speaks
- Dig this...Jazz is a way of life and is a healing force vital to the very lifeline of its' audience. As a jazz writer/elder musician I know how powerful jazz music meditatively affects the body's energy centers (chakras). Jazz is musical lifeline that keeps the universe and all entities, beings in balance. Jazz is, jazz does, jazz is incomparable!!!
- —Guest Doug Murray
Yes it can :=)
- This to me is a very explosive subject as in my opinion Jazz Artist/Musicians in general have a god like complex(If they was chocolate they would eat themselves) and are very stuck in there own little boxes and in most cases refuse to move out of it and this is the reason especialy in the states the music is in such a bad state "Smooth Jazz" is one of the main problems and it's killing the music and for what it's simple easy money for the artist (Kenny G has a lot to answer for !). Another problem is a lot of Artist/musicians are just regurgitating the same old music in the same old style and thats the reason why the age group at most of the festivals are 50 plus and yes i know at the moment over here in the UK the festivals are still very popular, i know i go to them sometimes myself but unless they make the music more accessible to the younger generation know! in 20-30 years there will little if no jazz scene. Jazz has to be spoon fed very slowly to young people it has to seen
- —Guest Aja
Teachout
- One wonders when Teachout last came down from his uptown ivory tower to put his boots on the ground of one of these smaller jazz clubs downtown or in Brooklyn. Even if Teachout's observations were accurate, he should and not give non-jazzers a chance to say 'see, jazz is dead.'
- —ClarkSavageJr.
