The only way to become famous is by playing Rock not Jazz

[WarriorJoe7]

Like you can get famous playing rock nowadays. This was true from the 1960s up until sometime in the late 90s. No more.

I am guessing but if you looked at fame I would bet that their is a higher percentage of famous jazz players against all jazz players vs the same in rock. Every medium size city like for instance Syracuse, NY has hundreds rock bands and maybe a dozen jazz bands if they are lucky. How many rock bands are in the top 40 now? Probably 2 or 3 and not many that formed since the late 90s. 10-15 years ago rock on the charts would have been a large majority. In the 1920s it would have been an overwhelming majority of jazz. Right now you have to play Hip Hop, Rap, or Soul or you won't make be famous. 10 years from now when there are hundreds and hundreds of rappers and DJs in every medium sized city, then some other type of music will be popular and Hip Hop will go out of style. Who knows it might be jazz.

Honestly I think the only way to be really famous is to have the industry give you a huge push, or to be around a long time in your genre and usually stretching the boundaries. That means surviving when your music aint popular.

I'll bet disco comes back into style sometime in the next 10 years, but it won't happen unless the industry pushes it that way. They control what's popular, not the masses.

[tonedeafmike]

One of the main problems with jazz and its connection to the average listener, is that IMO you have to actively listen to it to gain a real appreciation for it. I have a few jazz CDs, but I find that if I put them on and start doing stuff around the house, I tune out the music after 15-20 minutes. And it really strikes me as something that's probably awesome to see live but loses a little bit when it's recorded (as any fellow hockey fans can attest to seeing a live hockey game vs a televised game).

In terms of air-play and recognition, the same can be said for different genres of rock as well. Just take a look at who's in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and who's not. Prog groups have been virtually ignored, except for Pink Floyd. I still scratch my head when I see that Rush and/or Genesis have been left out. Then again, since they didn't spit on fans, marry anyone famous, or make outrageous political or social statements, I suppose it puts them in a lower tier of "rock stardom." And why when I turn on the radio do I still get beaten over the head with the same Green Day and Incubus songs that I've been hearing for the last 4 or 5 years? There's a lot of good new stuff out there that's ignored by the industry. Unfortunately most people will never get to hear it. Maybe it's just because I live between DC and Baltimore, but FM radio is horrible.

BTW, it's amazing how playing an instrument for a mere 5 months after 40+ yrs of just listening to the stuff can change your perspective.

[thecount1]

School of Rock
- I though it was just a movie, but is a real school. Best school of music I visited. Some 5 year old kid was showing me how to play some Jimi hendrix song.

School of Jazz
- It does not exist, and there is no such a movie. But if there was, it would give some real value and show kids that you can also make it in the jazz scene. I wish to come to one and listen a kid play Blue Train.

[vikingur]

lol, i liked the little elevator music comment, i respect almost all of the different genres, including jazz. however rock songs (prog metal, melodeath, and tech death) can be highly complicated, more so than many jazz songs. there is little improvisation,if any but many of the songs use a minimum of effects.

[Snarf]

Originally Posted by JimmyM

Not like we know Justin.

Anyway, you use No Doubt as an example. You can best bet that by Tragic Kingdom, someone invested huge money into them to make their songs hit singles. Yes, they got there by hard work, but money was exchanged and people got paid. Maybe it wasn't THEIR money, but I'm sure they spent plenty of their own to get into a position of using other people's money. And I'm not saying at all that talent doesn't enter into it, although some recent examples of hit songs give me pause. But to have a hit song requires a lot of money to be spent.

Well yeah. I thought that was a given in this discussion. I'm living through that process right now, and toured with others who are a little further in that process of getting other peoples' money. But yeah, to get there you have to prove you're a worthy investment.

[T-MOST]

I might take being a "well known" Jazz artist playing 180 days a year in 1000 - 2500 seaters around the world. Clearing 6 figures. Releasing an independent cd every few years and a career that lasts indefinately over being a famous rocker or hip hop artist, making a few million but ending up forgotten and out of style within 5 years or 3 cd's (which ever comes first).

[pbass2]

Originally Posted by thecount1

Why is easy to become famous playing rock . . . . . .

Whatever you think of any genre in particular, becoming famous is very very rarely easy. So, aside from the few cases where it appears to have been "handed" to somebody, in most cases, even if you're peddling mindless bubblegum, there's a TON of hard work and dedication involved. I've always felt that you kind of have to make your own luck. There are of course, always those few entertainers who seem to have been just born lucky, if not necessarily talented.
Then there's the "staying famous/successful" part. Pulling that off these days is even more of a trick, with everything being so disposable, and attention spans shrinking, and cynicism at an all-time high.

[joelb79]

Originally Posted by Medford Bassman

somebody told me this joke once,

Do you know the difference between a rock guitarist and jazz guitarist?

A jazz guitarist can play 5000 chords and have 3 people come to see him play.

A rock guitarist can play 3 chords and have 5000 people come to see him play.

This is soo funny, yet SOOO TRUE!

[D.Don]

Who cares about fame, do you know who write the lyrics for all the hits elton john is agonizing the radio stations with...

(look it up, that dude has probably a very convenient living, walking down the street, rich as a troll, and can hear his songs on more or less every radio station at least once or twice a day, and no-one will ever recognize him...)



D.Don

[CapnSev]

The only way to become famous anymore at all is to have a big business create your fame for you.

[namraj]

ahh but more and more pop music is jazz influenced nowadays. look at the cat empire, ollie mcgill - very good jazz piano player, in the cat empire.

[One Drop]

Anyone who thinks the music business was ever any different than now is dreaming. There were always a mixture of talented musicians and strong songs mixed with novelty crap and tasteless pap, and there was never an era where talent alone got you to the top. Whether it was payola, paying for tours, advertising, etc, it always took money to get airplay and to make sales. There were always people who were able to make it using innovative marketing techniques and new strategies, but these became the new paradigm often.

If you think talent alone made Miles or Gillespie or Ellington or Basie (you listening, other Count?) famous, it didn't. They were incredibly hard working, ambitious, and knew how to make contacts and use them, and had good managers and/or producers who were able to guide their careers and find a public for their music.

Reading famous musicians autobiographies, I'm always struck by how clear their sense of purpose is from an early age- making great music, like becoming famous (and I don't mean for 15 minutes) both take extremely hard work, dedication and focus.