What sounds random to you does not sound random to the jazz fan's ear. My father is completely unmusical in most ways, to the point of being a repeated embarra

What sounds random to you does not sound random to the jazz fan's ear. My father is completely unmusical in most ways, to the point of being a repeated embarrassment in my childhood, but he can recognize a jazz standard no matter what style it's played in, and even without any lead instrument playing a distinct melody. I mention his lack of talent and training because I think it is just a matter of listening to lots and lots of jazz. When my dad was in college, that's what the cool kids listened to, so he listened to as many hours of jazz as my generation listened to rock and pop. That's the key -- simply lots of exposure.