Modern Jazz is No Fun

[davepack]

Check out Kamasi Washington (currently on tour with Herbie Hancock) or anyone else from the West Coast Get Down collective.

 

[Honkey tonk]

the equipment, it hasn't changed much

 

[flojob]

I think some of it is that we sometimes equate education with emotional depth. They aren't mutually inclusive.
Just because someone understands music on an analytical level doesn't mean they have the understanding to convey any appreciable emotion to other people.
Or that those same emotions don't exist in the musician playing the tune.
In fact, given that a musician doesn't have the same opportunities for wealth and stability as other vocations (in a generally accepted sense), I personally have to believe that anyone that would dedicate the time or money required to move through academia is motivated primarily by love of the craft. Maybe so, maybe not.
But, in some very real and practical ways, the people doing these programs are some of the same people that help guarantee that music created by humans remains a choice for everyone else. And whatever motivation they have done that choice, it has some value for society.
Not every scientist is an Einstein.
Not every sax player is a Coltrane.
Both may have been extremely gifted,
But maybe terrible instructors.
Who knows

 

[dbsfgyd1]

Why does it have to be fun?
Why is THAT the most important factor?

If it isn’t to be enjoyed.. why do they call it playing.

 

[jthisdell]

I was in a gypsy jazz trio a couple of years ago, so much fun playing very difficult music that no one other than us really cared much about so we could do whatever we wanted ted and it was great. And fun. And then one guitarist took it seriously

 

[TakeABreak]

Why does it have to be fun?

Well, if it's not fun, it's work. And I've had waaaaay too much of THAT lately...

 

[eJake]

Check out Kamasi Washington (currently on tour with Herbie Hancock) or anyone else from the West Coast Get Down collective.

I like Kamasi and agree that he may be an exception to my OP.

 

[Watchootognbout]

One might as well ask why should a good meal taste good?

Tasting good(or fun)is ONE factor.But likewise,not the most important.

 

[HardNHeavy]

Regular "old" jazz is ok to "listen" to as background music..Just not exciting to play for me, plus i can't grasp it's complex language.....just not my thang....But much respect to those who do.....Jazz/rock/fusion is another story.....I dig these dudes.

 

[ClusterFlux]

I do not doubt that there is music out there that is good. I just don't hear a lot of it. Again, just my opinion, but Im not in a huge hurry to go check it out.

Uhm... Okay?

You knock contemporary jazz, but you think there's good stuff out there, but you don't want to check it out?

I suggest you open Pandora, create an "Esperanza Spalding" channel, and let it ride.

 

[LBS-bass]

I think some of it is that we sometimes equate education with emotional depth. They aren't mutually inclusive.

I’d quibble a bit and say we place a certain value on technical skill over emotion, simply because only one can be taught.

 

[ClusterFlux]

How many jazz standards did you hear in the 40s and 50s?

The answer is none, it was new music

Sorry, but that is not correct.

Jazz musicians routinely played standards in the 40s and 50s. E.g. Miles Davis recorded multiple albums filled with standards for Prestige in 1956 (e.g. Cookin', Workin', Relaxin'). Ellington's band played some standards, and not just the ones Duke and Strayhorn wrote. Parker played lots of standards (e.g. Jazz Masters 28: Charlie Parker Plays Standards - Charlie Parker | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic).

 

[pappabass]

Dude, please listen to Boney James and 480east, then report back....

 

[JoshS]

It's hard to knock players for not doing "modern jazz standards" because those don't really exist. Tunes only become standards when lots of musicians play them. The standards of the bebop era were just tunes from Broadway shows and movies that a wide range of the public knew. Those sources have dried up...movies don't have muscial numbers in them, as was so common before the 1960s, and we're not hearing jazzers doing songs from "Rent" or "Les Miserables".

As the parent of a toddler, i assure you they do. Although I don’t need 10 Jazz versions of “let it go” or that Moana song.

 

[DanAdams]

I'm not seeking jazz out, but Brad Mehldau is the only jazz that I've found exciting in a long long time.

 

[james condino]

Django's music is alive and doing well!

 

[Tommyc]

Tasting good(or fun)is ONE factor.But likewise,not the most important.

True it’s not, but one has to want to eat it in the first place, no?

 

[BOOG]

In my humblest of opinions, modern jazz music would be better if it got off my lawn. 90% of the material is stagnant and many original tunes are either avant gaurde (Boo (IMO)) or plain out contrafacts. I feel like the originators of bebop would feel like so so many of these people are just imitations of what a creative modern jazz pioneer was.

In Miles' biography, he talks about wanting to push the music forward. Some have done that and gone off in different directions. Robert Glasper comes to mind. Yet others have just stayed there playing the same type solos over the same type forms ad nauseum.

Now we have whole loads of school kids competing to see who can rip off byrd the best. The school thing shouldn't be overlooked. When's the last time you met a young self taught jazz musician? It seems to me like the culture isn't really there. Jazz isn't any fun, so why would the kids be interested?

It all just feels so stale. The real book..... The real lack of entertainment at most gigs.... The 21 year old kids who can destroy Confirmation but still don't really understand the blues.

This post has no point. I am just expressing an opinion/observation of mine. Feel free to flame it up, I'll try to bring my A game.

Disclaimer: I am in my 30s and absolutely love certain jazz. I will listen to any piano trio play any material from the 20th century and enjoy myself. I love Bill Evans and Oscar Peterson. I think my two favorite jazzers of all time are Grant Green and Lester Young.

Maybe it’s too sophisticated with theory for the majority of people to be interested?
Dunno much but I know I gotta be in the right mood and atmosphere. If my head isn’t there, it’s exhausting to listen to.

 

[Nevada Pete]

While there is some validity to the OP, you are totally wrong on one point. The Giants of Jazz did not spontaneously rise from the Earth as some Colossus' of Creativity (Colussi Greek/Latin conjugation was a long time ago) they all had to study, learn, practice, fail and rise again to explore and Create the styles we revere today. They played every day for 8 or more hours in big and little bands in all styles, charted music, head music, lead sheets where they had to spot harmonize and improvised, Casuals, dances, concerts, symphonies, radio programs and recording sessions any opportunity to play. They took harsh criticism, faced violence, racism, struggled with alcoholism, poverty, addictions. Out of all that those amazing people created an art form we call Jazz that most Americans have little or no respect or knowledge of.

I salute those students for attempting to learn, explore, appreciate that heritage as misguided or incomplete as the attempt may be. To the OP I agree the methods are not nearly complete as they might be, but in the American society of today what more can we expect?

We live in a different time and place where we can learn and stands on the shoulders of Giants so Listen, Respect and Learn then Build and Create.

This is so true. There are indeed people who are prodigies, i.e., they learn to play extraordinarily quickly (I wasn't one of them). But even Amadeus Mozart the consummate prodigy played fanatically every day beginning from when he was a child, and devoted extraordinary effort to his craft.

 

[LBS-bass]

Tasting good(or fun)is ONE factor.But likewise,not the most important.

Seriously? Unless you are literally starving and eating whatever you can scrounge for sustenance, you are going to be selective based on flavor. Hopefully you're also selective based on nutrition and other factors, but you're not going to eat that horrible tasting food that's good for you if you have any other choice.