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Topic: Is Jazz music nearly dead? |
Stefan Robertson
From:
Hertfordshire, UK
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Douglas Schuch
From:
Valencia, Philippines
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Posted 28 Sep 2015 4:09 am |
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Unfortunately, I think the answer is yes. That does not mean that there are not great jazz musicians still out there playing, or anything. But realistically, the heyday of Jazz was the 30's through the fifties. That is when the songs we consider great jazz tunes where first played, when the musicians we consider icons of jazz were performing. Think about some "new" jazz that you've recently heard and liked. Most likely it sounds pretty similar to jazz from an earlier era, and that is why you liked it.
OK, guess what? You can say the same thing about rock! IMHO opinion, rock is dead. Look at reviews of new bands that get attention in rock - they will inevitably be compared to rock greats of an earlier era, and often seem very imitative of those musicians. Lets face it - what can a band with an electric bass, two electric guitars, and a drummer do that has not been done ad nauseam? There is a reason the classical composers who are most played today composed 100 or more years ago, the jazz musicians most listened too are all dead, and the rock music that is most popular was all recorded 40 years ago. It was ground-breaking.
So, where does that leave us today? I'm not sure. Is hip-hop/rap the creative, original music of today? I certainly hope not, as I find it lacking in creativity or originality! But it certainly is the popular music of today that is not patent imitation of previous greats.... but it is quickly getting there. Rap/hip hop is now around 30 years old.
Having said all that, there is nothing wrong with listening/playing great music in whatever style you like. Does great music have to be new/orignal/unique to be appreciated? Country music (also arguably dead) has always been more accepting of playing the classics. How many great country singers did whole albums of music written and recorded by others (tribute albums or classics)? The one thing I am certain of is that music is not dead. And, as much as I find it difficult to admit, perhaps I don't even have to like it for it to be great music.
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Bringing steel guitar to the bukid of Negros Oriental! |
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Steve Hitsman
From:
Waterloo, IL
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Posted 28 Sep 2015 4:53 am
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Miles Davis hated the term "jazz." He considered it "music."
"I'll play it first and tell you what it is later."
Miles Davis |
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Dustin Rhodes
From:
Owasso OK
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Posted 28 Sep 2015 7:27 am
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| I'm of the opinion that music as we think of it is almost dead. I don't think we'll see it again like it was from basically post WWII to about 2000 maybe. There will never be another Elvis or Coltrane or Nirvana or Garth Brooks or....... |
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Mike Neer
From:
NJ
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Posted 28 Sep 2015 7:46 am
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I only care because it is difficult for jazz musicians to make a living playing music (they end up having to teach--in fact, sometimes on tours, they are obligated to do workshops).
Other than that, I couldn't give two damns what the rest of the world is listening to. Jazz has always amounted to a very small percentage of record sales--even less than Children's and Gospel. Long live improvisational music, and the music originated by African-Americans known as jazz.
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Links to streaming music, websites, YouTube: Links |
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Bud Angelotti
From:
Larryville, NJ, USA
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Posted 28 Sep 2015 8:17 am
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| I couldn't give two damns what the rest of the world is listening to. |
Right on Mike !!
Jazz is not dead. Neither is "real" country music.
It's just not "big product" anymore ever since video killed the radio star.
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Just 'cause I look stupid, don't mean I'm not. |
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Bill Hatcher
From:
Atlanta Ga. USA
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Posted 28 Sep 2015 8:49 am
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commercially....yes, but that equates to business stats and sales etc.
as an art form...no..but as most art forms are..hard to make a living doing. |
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Stefan Robertson
From:
Hertfordshire, UK
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Posted 28 Sep 2015 10:43 am
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I did notice year on year from the link I posted. All genres of music have had declining sales.
Jazz is one of those things that technically can never die but it will be listened to only by musicians.
Seems like a musicians music anyway. That's why I love it. The mastery is immense.
Just today two people I know heard some Barney Kessel I was listening to and asked how come the elevator music.
I said "it's real music, you either get it or you don't "
Maybe I'll push a campaign with it. "Got Jazz"
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Stefan
Bill Hatcher custom 12 string Lap Steel Guitar
E13#9/F secrets: https://thelapsteelguitarist.wordpress.com
"Give it up for The Lap Steel Guitarist" |
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Stefan Robertson
From:
Hertfordshire, UK
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Posted 28 Sep 2015 10:47 am
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Maybe to appeal to my generation I need to come up with an album with some explicit ramblings every now and then and a video in the club with booty shaking and girls with T-shirts that will say.
"I f@!?d Miles Davis"
Hahha 
Never. Can't cheapen the music. But it would be interesting to see if it sold.
_________________
Stefan
Bill Hatcher custom 12 string Lap Steel Guitar
E13#9/F secrets: https://thelapsteelguitarist.wordpress.com
"Give it up for The Lap Steel Guitarist" |
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Dave Mudgett
From:
Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee
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Posted 28 Sep 2015 1:48 pm
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| ... I couldn't give two damns what the rest of the world is listening to. |
+1, and I have no qualifiers.
My take - if you want to make a living as a serious artist, or in any serious 'intellectual' realm of any type, you either hafta be very lucky or you're gonna hafta scuffle. With only very rare exception, you gotta either scuffle or sell out. It ain't just music. "Work" is stuff like digging ditches, farming, putting fenders on a car in an automobile factory, or sitting in an office filling out endless forms to someone else's benefit. Everybody wants to be able to do stuff for a living that they just like to do for fun.
The good side of all this is that if you hafta scuffle, you hafta stay in-shape and current - no deadwood allowed. To me, this is good, not bad. Scuffling is good for you. Yes, sometimes it's not fun. But the alternatives tend to turn to bloated and smug. My opinion. |
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Jim Cohen
From:
Philadelphia, PA
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Jamie Mitchell
From:
Nashville, TN
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Posted 28 Sep 2015 2:47 pm
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| Mike Neer wrote: |
| I only care because it is difficult for jazz musicians to make a living playing music |
agreed 100%... |
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Quentin Hickey
From:
Nova Scotia, Canada
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Posted 28 Sep 2015 6:15 pm
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I get a kick out of it when I hear people say, "why would anyone listen to that crazy jazz stuff it doesnt make any sense".
Yes it is another form of language so dont knock it until you have tried it.
Dead? Probably not as dead as trad country but who is keeping score 😊 |
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Mitch Drumm
From:
Frostbite Falls, hard by Veronica Lake
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Posted 28 Sep 2015 7:21 pm Re: Is Jazz music nearly dead?
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| Stefan Robertson wrote: |
the publics absolute disinterest in Jazz..
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Hmmm...............
I thought disinterest by the public was part of the appeal. The whole "suffering for your art" thing. Disdaining squares and all of that. After all, this isn't 1939.
I must have been misinformed. |
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Bill Hatcher
From:
Atlanta Ga. USA
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Jamie Mitchell
From:
Nashville, TN
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Posted 29 Sep 2015 7:25 am Re: Is Jazz music nearly dead?
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| Mitch Drumm wrote: |
Disdaining squares and all of that. After all, this isn't 1939.
I must have been misinformed. |
ha! maybe some of the mean/cutting aspect has faded over generations?
i worked at a big jazz club in Denver, and most of the cats i met/worked with we're super nice, friendly, etc. seemingly te higher up the totem like they were, the nicer they got. Brian Blade, Jim Hall stick out as being exceptionally kind.
j |
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Brian Henry
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Posted 29 Sep 2015 7:59 am
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Thankfully jaz is dead, well almost  |
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Steve Pawlak
From:
Arizona, USA
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Posted 29 Sep 2015 8:00 am Is Jazz music nearly dead?
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| One can only hope |
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chris ivey
From:
california (deceased)
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Posted 29 Sep 2015 8:40 pm
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jazz intimidates me and i can't groove with it...
unless it's chalker or emmons.
i'm too dumb for jazz. |
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Bill L. Wilson
From:
Oklahoma, USA
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Posted 29 Sep 2015 8:52 pm Cool, Man.
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| Jazz is fine with me, as long as your the one listening to it. |
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Dom Franco
From:
Beaverton, OR, 97007
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Posted 29 Sep 2015 11:59 pm
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Since I mostly play for Senior Citizens at retirement homes, Jazz is not dead for me. Old folks are living longer and they still love the great Jazz standards from 1930's to 1960's
I make some good money playing for these upscale Senior residences. It also helps that I love the same music too.
Great chords and sweet lyrics... the old cliché is so true. "They don't write good songs like that anymore"
(***EDIT*** "modern jazz" with weird harmony and discord, crazy time signatures etc. is not what I am talking about. That is just noise to me!)
Dom
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https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYG9cvwCPKuXpGofziPNieA/feed?activity_view=3 |
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Mike Neer
From:
NJ
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Posted 30 Sep 2015 3:40 am
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One man's noise is another man's art. Many people are not really open to new explorations in music, I understand that. But Tin Pan Alley and Swing are not what I would consider jazz. They can be vehicles for improvisation, but without harmonic and rhythmic development, they are simply Pop songs of a bygone era--moldy figs, if you will.
I'm glad there are some steel players who are interested in modern developments in music. Otherwise, steel guitar will exist in a perpetual musical Groundhog Day.
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Links to streaming music, websites, YouTube: Links |
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Jamie Mitchell
From:
Nashville, TN
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Posted 30 Sep 2015 6:34 am
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| Dom Franco wrote: |
(***EDIT*** "modern jazz" with weird harmony and discord, crazy time signatures etc. is not what I am talking about. That is just noise to me!)
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this is the noises, to you?
http://youtu.be/epfW_L9cfVM
edit to add: once again, in full agreement w/ Neer on this... |
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Dustin Rhodes
From:
Owasso OK
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Posted 30 Sep 2015 6:55 am
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| Twenty something here and my daughter falls asleep most nights listening to Grant Green's Idle Moments or whatever Getz stuff I have playing. Jazz suffers a bit from the fact that a person in 2015 wanting to sell jazz albums has to compete not only with other 2015 jazzers but also Davis, Coltrane, Brubeck, Monk, etc. |
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Barry Blackwood
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Posted 30 Sep 2015 8:40 am
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| Quote: |
| One man's noise is another man's art. Many people are not really open to new explorations in music, I understand that. But Tin Pan Alley and Swing are not what I would consider jazz. They can be vehicles for improvisation, but without harmonic and rhythmic development, they are simply Pop songs of a bygone era--moldy figs, if you will. |
Mike, when you have reached "senior" status, I would then like to know what you would consider moldy figs among the current crop...  |
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