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> The fact that this 55-year-old recording is the year’s most significant jazz release tells you all you need to know about the health of jazz in 2018. Writer

> The fact that this 55-year-old recording is the year’s most significant jazz release tells you all you need to know about the health of jazz in 2018. Writer has a point. As much as I like jazz, it's ossified badly as a genre. Love to see some forward motion that isn't free jazz or other noise.

kop316 8y ago
As a counter point, imagine if the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Tupac, Notorious BIG, etc. had an unreleased album and it was released this year. If that happened, I would guarantee that the same thing that happened with Coltrane's Album would have the same thing. Does that mean Rock, Hip-Hop, Rap is dead? I do think jazz as a genre has an issue, but it is a much different issue. Personally, I think Jazz is way to inbred, and most Jazz artists only play to other jazz artists, and most like to keep it a niche genre.
- emodendroket 8y ago
  To the extent jazz is stodgy it's because commerical interest has dried up and it's attached itself to schools instead. But what was the alternative, you wonder? Do we want to only have Kenny G?
  - kop316 8y ago
    I don't know to be honest. When I think of contemporary Jazz Artists out there, I think of Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Gordon Goodwin, (to an extent) Trombone Shorty. I enjoy playing and listening to Jazz, but I personally am disappointed when I go to shows and it's obvious that the soloist is there to show off how great they are at Jazz, not to be there to entertain. Granted that could be a one off thing and not really a greater issue.
- pnathan 8y ago
  An alive genre would be having albumns that people know; it would be scintillating with new work and its defenders not having to mine niche areas to claim relevance. Unreleased work would be cool, but it should not be dominant, because the world should have moved on. I would agree that there is an inbreeding problem with jazz - artists doing it for artists; or worse, doing it for an aging generation. Nuances and art for arts sake lose the essential of the socio-cultural roots of jazz, which is an entertainment form that stomps its way through a dance floor or a blues howl of sorrow. Electroswing is much closer to the vibe of Dixieland than, say, the late Miles Davis.
andybak 8y ago
> Love to see some forward motion that isn't free jazz or other noise. I'm not a full-on jazz devotee and even I've heard stuff in the last decade that is neither "noise" nor retro-nostalgia. Is it possible you haven't looked very hard?
byproxy 8y ago
A lot of the guys that worked on 'To Pimp a Butterfly' are doing interesting things. E.g. : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C13UQaE0ZaQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C13UQaE0ZaQ
- jrowley 8y ago
  R+R=Now is really exciting too. Its definitely my favorite jazz super group right now. I'm going to be seeing them in SF in a couple of weeks - I can't wait. I really like this tune from their album: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GS4yZHgjJw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GS4yZHgjJw
atombender 8y ago
How much contemporary jazz do you know? The perspective of the article seems very American to me. Consider European jazz masters such as Tomasz Stanko [1], Enrico Rava, Marcin Wasilewski, Tord Gustavsen, Bugge Wesseltoft, Bobo Stenson, Enrico Pieranunzi, Helge Lien, John Surman, Iiro Rantala, Esbjörn Svensson, Stefano Bollani, Arve Henriksen, Myriam Alter... These represent a considerable evolution of jazz, in my opinion, that seems rarely included/considered stateside, the stature of labels like ECM and ACT notwithstanding. Not that the US doesn't have its share of great contemporary artists; Aaron Parks, Anat Fort, Brad Mehldau and Keith Jarrett come to mind. [1] One of my favourite albums: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhayp1vE8EE&list=PL8ti15zu4vRC4XGufNZwlOJukBoGpLJcA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhayp1vE8EE&list=PL8ti15zu4v...
- aaaaaaaaaab 8y ago
  *Arve Henriksen Also worth checking out the rest of the Rune Grammofon catalog. Some serious Scandinavian stuff!
  - atombender 8y ago
    Oops. Yes, Rune Grammofon has a lot of great contemporary stuff. Much of it is technically not jazz, of course -- Supersilent and Biosphere, for example.
aczerepinski 8y ago
The writer is misinformed. There are plenty of musicians like Miguel Zenon, Ambrose Akinmusire, Terence Blanchard, Vijay Iyer, Wayne Shorter, etc putting out beautiful, relevant music today. I have a deep love for Coltrane, but I'm not willing to agree that Both Directions is more significant than all the great music folks are still creating today.
UncleMeat 8y ago
Huh? How about the huge crossover work of the last decade? Jazz is influencing hip hop left and right and there are huge crossover records like Black Radio that combine elements of both. Snarky Puppy has taken the indie genre of "giant band with 30 people" into jazz and is writing groove based music that is totally accessible to average consumers. We've got collaborations between Brad Mehldau and electronic musicians like Mark Guiliana as well as bluegrass musicians like Chris Thile. Electronic albums are including collaborations with people like Herbie Hancock. Thundercat is a big crossover hit. Jazz is more productive in this decade than most. Jazz instrumentation is also breaking through with bands like Moon Hooch, Trombone Shorty, and Too Many Zoos.
- icebraining 8y ago
  But is that an evolution of Jazz, or is that other genres picking up its legacy? I mean, Latin influenced a lot of languages, but it's still dead.

kop316 8y ago

As a counter point, imagine if the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Tupac, Notorious BIG, etc. had an unreleased album and it was released this year. If that happened, I would guarantee that the same thing that happened with Coltrane's Album would have the same thing. Does that mean Rock, Hip-Hop, Rap is dead? I do think jazz as a genre has an issue, but it is a much different issue. Personally, I think Jazz is way to inbred, and most Jazz artists only play to other jazz artists, and most like to keep it a niche genre.

emodendroket 8y ago
To the extent jazz is stodgy it's because commerical interest has dried up and it's attached itself to schools instead. But what was the alternative, you wonder? Do we want to only have Kenny G?
- kop316 8y ago
  I don't know to be honest. When I think of contemporary Jazz Artists out there, I think of Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Gordon Goodwin, (to an extent) Trombone Shorty. I enjoy playing and listening to Jazz, but I personally am disappointed when I go to shows and it's obvious that the soloist is there to show off how great they are at Jazz, not to be there to entertain. Granted that could be a one off thing and not really a greater issue.
pnathan 8y ago
An alive genre would be having albumns that people know; it would be scintillating with new work and its defenders not having to mine niche areas to claim relevance. Unreleased work would be cool, but it should not be dominant, because the world should have moved on. I would agree that there is an inbreeding problem with jazz - artists doing it for artists; or worse, doing it for an aging generation. Nuances and art for arts sake lose the essential of the socio-cultural roots of jazz, which is an entertainment form that stomps its way through a dance floor or a blues howl of sorrow. Electroswing is much closer to the vibe of Dixieland than, say, the late Miles Davis.

andybak 8y ago

> Love to see some forward motion that isn't free jazz or other noise. I'm not a full-on jazz devotee and even I've heard stuff in the last decade that is neither "noise" nor retro-nostalgia. Is it possible you haven't looked very hard?

byproxy 8y ago

A lot of the guys that worked on 'To Pimp a Butterfly' are doing interesting things. E.g. : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C13UQaE0ZaQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C13UQaE0ZaQ

jrowley 8y ago
R+R=Now is really exciting too. Its definitely my favorite jazz super group right now. I'm going to be seeing them in SF in a couple of weeks - I can't wait. I really like this tune from their album: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GS4yZHgjJw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GS4yZHgjJw

atombender 8y ago

How much contemporary jazz do you know? The perspective of the article seems very American to me. Consider European jazz masters such as Tomasz Stanko [1], Enrico Rava, Marcin Wasilewski, Tord Gustavsen, Bugge Wesseltoft, Bobo Stenson, Enrico Pieranunzi, Helge Lien, John Surman, Iiro Rantala, Esbjörn Svensson, Stefano Bollani, Arve Henriksen, Myriam Alter... These represent a considerable evolution of jazz, in my opinion, that seems rarely included/considered stateside, the stature of labels like ECM and ACT notwithstanding. Not that the US doesn't have its share of great contemporary artists; Aaron Parks, Anat Fort, Brad Mehldau and Keith Jarrett come to mind. [1] One of my favourite albums: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhayp1vE8EE&list=PL8ti15zu4vRC4XGufNZwlOJukBoGpLJcA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhayp1vE8EE&list=PL8ti15zu4v...

aaaaaaaaaab 8y ago
*Arve Henriksen Also worth checking out the rest of the Rune Grammofon catalog. Some serious Scandinavian stuff!
- atombender 8y ago
  Oops. Yes, Rune Grammofon has a lot of great contemporary stuff. Much of it is technically not jazz, of course -- Supersilent and Biosphere, for example.

aczerepinski 8y ago

The writer is misinformed. There are plenty of musicians like Miguel Zenon, Ambrose Akinmusire, Terence Blanchard, Vijay Iyer, Wayne Shorter, etc putting out beautiful, relevant music today. I have a deep love for Coltrane, but I'm not willing to agree that Both Directions is more significant than all the great music folks are still creating today.

UncleMeat 8y ago

Huh? How about the huge crossover work of the last decade? Jazz is influencing hip hop left and right and there are huge crossover records like Black Radio that combine elements of both. Snarky Puppy has taken the indie genre of "giant band with 30 people" into jazz and is writing groove based music that is totally accessible to average consumers. We've got collaborations between Brad Mehldau and electronic musicians like Mark Guiliana as well as bluegrass musicians like Chris Thile. Electronic albums are including collaborations with people like Herbie Hancock. Thundercat is a big crossover hit. Jazz is more productive in this decade than most. Jazz instrumentation is also breaking through with bands like Moon Hooch, Trombone Shorty, and Too Many Zoos.

icebraining 8y ago
But is that an evolution of Jazz, or is that other genres picking up its legacy? I mean, Latin influenced a lot of languages, but it's still dead.