4 ms·

There's a difference between being able to appreciate the artistic value of something, and being able to enjoy it. I don't like jazz, and I mostly listen to m

by dlytle 17y ago

There's a difference between being able to appreciate the artistic value of something, and being able to enjoy it. I don't like jazz, and I mostly listen to music where I can't understand the lyrics, or where none exist. Sometimes people just don't enjoy certain genres of music. I'm sure part of it is cultural, but this article seems to portray the inability to enjoy jazz as some sort of cultural failing, and that's just ridiculous. Pixote was thought-provoking, emotional, and well made. Despite that, I did not enjoy it. That does not mean I'm incapable of recognizing art, it just means that I don't enjoy the style of the piece in question.

mojuba 17y ago
Jazz as a genre is more complex than virtually any other genre of music. It employs more subtle and more complex harmonies which are usually not used anywhere else, neither are seen in music textbooks. Plus improvisation which essentially is composing on the fly - something not every musician is capable of keeping up and not every listener is capable of understanding. In other words (and this shouldn't be news) jazz is a language that you need to learn in order to enjoy it. That's the point of the article. (Some parts of jazz though are pretty "accessible", such as Billie and Nina, but if you forget about the lyrics and the emotional side of their art and leave only the music, that for the most part wouldn't be a good example of jazz.)
- autarch 17y ago
  I enjoy classical music of the modern period like Messiaen, Britten, and others. This is arguably more complicated than jazz. I don't really like most jazz. The performers are mostly amazing players, but the music doesn't provoke any emotional reaction from me, whereas listening to something like Messiaen's Turangalila is as close to a religious experience as I'll ever get.

4 ms·

There's a difference between being able to appreciate the artistic value of something, and being able to enjoy it. I don't like jazz, and I mostly listen to m

by dlytle 17y ago

mojuba 17y ago
Jazz as a genre is more complex than virtually any other genre of music. It employs more subtle and more complex harmonies which are usually not used anywhere else, neither are seen in music textbooks. Plus improvisation which essentially is composing on the fly - something not every musician is capable of keeping up and not every listener is capable of understanding. In other words (and this shouldn't be news) jazz is a language that you need to learn in order to enjoy it. That's the point of the article. (Some parts of jazz though are pretty "accessible", such as Billie and Nina, but if you forget about the lyrics and the emotional side of their art and leave only the music, that for the most part wouldn't be a good example of jazz.)
- autarch 17y ago
  I enjoy classical music of the modern period like Messiaen, Britten, and others. This is arguably more complicated than jazz. I don't really like most jazz. The performers are mostly amazing players, but the music doesn't provoke any emotional reaction from me, whereas listening to something like Messiaen's Turangalila is as close to a religious experience as I'll ever get.