What is jazz???

[Bighouse]

Jazz is cool and hip, daddio.

 

[JazznFunk]

Jazz, at its core, is about improvisation.... and roots in the Blues. There's a lot of music out there that people think of as being 'Jazzy' which has nothing to do with improvisation, or the Blues. Jam Bands are improvising, but they are not playing 'Jazz' - although I'd argue that Jimmy Herring (Widespread Panic) is a jazz guitarist in a fusion/jam bander body. Some 'smooth jazz' artists are playing music over a few chords with R&B rhythms but have a vocabulary rooted in what is generally be considered to be a 'Jazz language.' In short.... it's complicated, but when someone understands how to play and speak the jazz language in their improvisation, you know it when you hear it.

 

[micguy]

Jazz is easy to define. It's a music genre that maximizes the ratio of how much time and effort it took to learn how to play divided by audience size.

 

[Jazzdogg]

I don't really listen much anymore and suddenly had an inkling for it. Found myself tuning into a local college station that's all jazz (WCLK in Atlanta).
I don't know much about jazz. After listening for a while i realized that most of the songs sound mostly like R&B or maybe instrumental covers of known songs.
I know there are different styles of jazz, but the more a listen the most i think that anything can be called jazz. Even latin rhythms like salsa, mambo, etc., i find them being classified as jazz when they are all instrumental.

So, what is jazz? Is anything jazz?

I'm pushing 70, so my definition of jazz is very likely different than what others say these days. Most of the acts I see billed for so-called jazz festivals are anything except what Pop called jazz - and he played jazz double bass for a living starting around 1947.

Then again, most country is far different these days from the country my best friend's dad played (he's 93).

Music isn't static. Neither are people.

 

[rashrader]

Jazz Rules!!!

 

[ProbablyTooLoud]

Thought about this question all day. Took the I train to the IV bus, hung out and had lunch, rode the IV back to the I, worked an easy 2 to 5 shift, then took that I train back home. Didn't come up with an answer.

 

[DrummerwStrings]

One reason i mentioned salsa and mambo is that i grew up listening to it and Im very familiar with the sound. Every time I've come across latin jazz, its been, mostly, instrumental salsa or mambo. One specific example is Mambo Influenciado. Probably 80% salsa and 20% mambo, but if you sang to it, it would be in any Fania album.
Another example, Bobby Valentin. Big fan btw. His latest stuff is "jazz", but really mostly salsa. I didn't think of it as jazz until like a month ago that i read that jazz is his first musical love. Awesome music. Check it out.

In the late 1940s-early '50s, many Jazz, Mambo & Salsa groups played in clubs across the street from each other in New York. Many artists saw each other between sets, & a few collaborated. Jazz was still the major US popular & dance music, so the artists knew the styles.

Django Reinhardt also toured w Duke Ellington shortly after WWII.

 

[Ric5]

So, what is jazz? Is anything jazz?

Jazz is when you make a mistake and then repeat several times

 

[Space Pickle]

"jazz" is when two musicians love each other very much and decide to have a baby...

 

[BobDeRosa]

I don't really listen much anymore and suddenly had an inkling for it. Found myself tuning into a local college station that's all jazz (WCLK in Atlanta).
I don't know much about jazz. After listening for a while i realized that most of the songs sound mostly like R&B or maybe instrumental covers of known songs.
I know there are different styles of jazz, but the more a listen the most i think that anything can be called jazz. Even latin rhythms like salsa, mambo, etc., i find them being classified as jazz when they are all instrumental.

So, what is jazz? Is anything jazz?

How about starting with an easier question, like "What is the meaning of life?" and working up to "What is jazz?"

 

[Joebone]

"The word 'jazz' to me means 'I dare you.'" - Wayne Shorter

Jazz takes an existing structure and improvises on it in the moment. It dares you to do something different in the moment that could take the music somewhere unexpected.

I would ask what kind of music you like to listen to so I could suggest records that might interest you. You need to go inside the music before you can go outside of it.

I just learned this Wayne Shorter definition last week, which is superior to - yet, congruent - with my own longstanding description: The sound of surprise.

 

[Kubicki Fan]

I have nothing more to add except for this amazing jazz performance featuring Anthony Jackson:

This is so gypsy! Thanks.

 

[micguy]

Jazz is when you make a mistake and then repeat several times

Jazz is having a theoretical rationale for every mistake. Also known as never having to say you're sorry.

 

[Ric5]

Jazz is having a theoretical rationale for every mistake. Also known as never having to say you're sorry.

you said it better than I did

 

[mongo2]

I listen to Radio Swiss Jazz. They play a lot of different styles and happen to play quite a bit of what we cover with the Jazz guatarist/singer in our duet. Maybe we'd be more popular in Switzerland?

Other Jazz stations I've listened to are WBGO out of Newark NJ and Jazz24 out of Tacoma WA.

 

[misterCRUSH]

For me jazz is the one genre that is truly challenging, engaging, and invigorating. I enjoy other genres but not nearly as much. I love the improvisational aspect of jazz the most. Even walking a bass line, you are free to create something new every time, especially when you get to a place where you can listen and react to everything else going on. That took me some time, but it's truly one of the aspects I love the most. When I started on bass seven years ago, my entire goal was to play jazz. I am finally in a good trio, and on the cusp of joining another group. To me, jazz is a true form, full of history, stories, and emotions. I love that it's new every single time. BASS.

 

[carlosjrf]

May be a troll; may not.

If it isn't a troll, this answer may not encourage someone to find out more.

If it is a troll, it will be easy to find out by the troll's responses later in the thread, & the Mods can quickly handle it.


No one knows everything, so Everyone is ignorant about something. It doesn't hurt to answer a question assuming good intentions.

I already responded to this. Not sure why anyone would think that. I didn't know im not allowed to learn things.

 

[bass12]

Im not knowledgeable of jazz, but i guess I've listened to what i would call, stereotypically jazz, like Miles Davis.
I suppose what they've been playing on that station, or maybe is just what they play at that time of the day, is more modern jazz? Whatever that means.
The first time i tuned to that station i heard this and i liked it, but then a lot after that was the same vibe. Which is fine. I'm still listening.
I've always considered jazz above my level of comprehension so if this is also jazz them i guess it's more approachable than its ever been for me. I'm still miff about what is jazz in general.

Ronny Jordan was very influenced by Wes Montgomery. A lot of his stuff (maybe all of it) involved mixing his Montgomery influence with what is often called "smooth jazz" and the hip-hop/trip-hop/downtempo flavour of the '90s. Whether or not what Ronny Jordan was doing could legitimately be called jazz is probably dependent on who you ask. There's a strong tendency among many to limit the stylistic parameters of "jazz" in a way that rejects pretty much any developments that occurred post 1960s. In some cases even before that. As was previously mentioned, jazz has a history that spans over a hundred years and, just like any other genre that has existed for multiple decades, it has changed with the times and been fused with other genres to produce hybrids. If you follow the development of Miles Davis you'll get an idea of just how elastic jazz can be (of course there are "purist" types who will claim that what Miles did post mid-to-late 1960s wasn't jazz).

 

[carlosjrf]

well, first of all:

Link Removed

and



ok joking aside, although Miles did say something along these lines (it's not about the notes you play, it's about the notes you don't play).

Others have said a lot of good stuff already, not sure if I can really add much, but, here we go. It is such a broad term that you can't really make a distinct definition of what it is. When you look up "what is jazz" you'll get stuff like "Jazz is a musical form derived from African American rhythms with a focus on improvisation and syncopation" which, is a limiting and narrow definition. That can apply to some earlier forms of jazz but doesn't really do the whole genre any justice. It's like trying to define what is pop, or what is rock? Hell, even trying to define a subset of rock or pop can get messy because you have to talk in generalizations and there are always exceptions. Rock and roll started with piano and saxophone as the main instruments and then eventually shifted towards guitars as the main instruments in the late 50s/early 60s. But what about a band like the Red Hot Chili Pipers that use bagpipes? Is it still rockin' even if they aren't playing electric guitars? A lot of these genres are a "you know when you hear it" kinda thing, even if it doesn't fit a specific definition. Louis Armstrong, when asked to define jazz, said "If you have to ask what jazz is, you'll never know."

Wikipedia says, "Jazz is characterized by swing and blue notes, complex chords, call and response vocals, polyrhythms and improvisation." which gets a little closer, but not every form will use all of these, and many more modern styles add other elements like rock, folk, afro-cuban beats, etc. And jazz isn't the only style to use these elements, too. In the early 20th century genres were very different from how we see them today. A lot of early rock n roll and proto rock n roll to me sounds very country and rockabilly compared to what my modern ears wants to call rock. In fact, genres like country & western were different styles that were lumped together by the charts and eventually they merged into one style. Same with R&B, rhythm music and blues music were different genres but got lumped together.

To me, I think of jazz as freedom of expression. If you look at how bebop started, it was created by the swing musicians that would jam at the clubs or in someone's apartment after playing the big band stuff. They were playing for themselves, not what the white audiences wanted, and it lead to a new form of jazz. (it's way more complex than that, with WW2 having a huge effect on the music industry with material rations making recording harder, and many musicians getting drafted, etc.)

Jazz is also evolution. Modern styles have their roots in more traditional jazz, but it is something that is ever changing as new styles are incorporated, or changes in technology leading to new sounds, etc.

Ok, so, to sum all of this up. Trying to define jazz is rather impossible, and the more modern styles can sound foreign to earlier music. But to me, jazz is an umbrella term to define music that has shared roots and elements with district rhythms, improvisation, and harmony, but is a broader form of expression and evolution that, when you hear it, you'll know or something...

Appreciate the long comment. I said before that I've always thought Jazz is way over may level of comprehension and i kind of see why now. From what i gather, maybe everything is or can be jazz, depending on how I think about. To be honest even the music i usually listen to i dont have enough time to study it as deep as I want to. So trying to figure out Jazz or what is Jazz, maybe is a something that I don't need to do and just appreciate the music. I guess my curious mind had me wonder.

 

[bass12]

Is this a troll? Showing such amazing ignorance of a genre originating in African-American communities over 100 years ago.

You seem to be implying that because jazz originated in "African American communities over 100 years ago" that the OP should be better informed about jazz than he is. Heaven forbid he should express an interest now. Everyone is ignorant about certain kinds of music and I'm sure I could uncover all kinds of music (including styles that have been significantly influential on current popular music) that you are "amazingly" ignorant about.