4 ms·

It may be that the reason Americans don't like jazz is that we take it for granted because we invented it. It's uninteresting because we've heard various forms

It may be that the reason Americans don't like jazz is that we take it for granted because we invented it. It's uninteresting because we've heard various forms of it our entire lives — from nightclub fare to swing to dixieland to jazz's roots in gospel and spirituals and blues and bluegrass. Ho hum, we've heard it all before. Another reason may be that few of us play an instrument. Those who do can't help but appreciate the skill required to play even a simple line of jazz, much less in an ensemble or when inventing the line extemporaneously. Frankly I'm in awe of the raw musicality of people like Armstrong or Coltrane or Fitzgerald, even though their music generally doesn't entertain me, at least, nowhere near as much as it impresses me technically and artistically. And I do play an instrument (or used to). All the same may be said of classical music too, which I believe is also dying in America. However I tend to like classical more than jazz, for some reason(s) I also can't explain. That said, I do love to hear non-jazz artists adopt elements of jazz into their music, like Sting's use of jazz's instruments, layering, and weird time signatures. Maybe there's a future for jazz as the spice that adds flavor to other genres of music.

matt_j 7y ago
If people are bored because "all jazz sounds the same" / "heard it all before" how is that the popular sounds of today are all regurgitated EDM / rock-lite / rap-lite / "nothing-music" that literally all sounds the same and most of it awful? :P There's been a long downturn in appreciation for good music IMO. My parents generation (boomers) are more musical than my generation and I think it's getting worse. More of them play instruments. More of them (can) sing. The music they like isn't necessarily highbrow, but it has more musical complexity than most of the stuff on the radio these days. Even simple stuff, like harmony, or a unique rhythm. A lot of popular music today is atonal trash written for the meme generation. Autotune, weak synthesized sounds, highly compressed for punch to the detriment of everything else, same old rhythms, no harmony, barely a melody, etc. I have nothing against dance music, or hip-hop, in fact I have a deep love for music in both of those genres, but there's a thick layer of terrible that rises to the top of the pop charts and you have to dig through it to find music of any worth. I'm no musical elitist, but I do take the time to listen outside my comfort zone and it has broadened my horizons enough that I'm not satisfied listening to whatever tripe some top20 station decides they'll make popular this week. I'd rather listen to Muddy Waters for the 1000th time. :)
- blaser-waffle 7y ago
  "Millennials are killing music with their beats and their memes" > but there's a thick layer of terrible that rises to the top of the pop charts and you have to dig through it to find music of any worth. This is a trite argument that's been true since the 1950s. Pop is designed to be as lowest-common-denominator as possible, because radio stations need to make money.
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]

matt_j 7y ago

If people are bored because "all jazz sounds the same" / "heard it all before" how is that the popular sounds of today are all regurgitated EDM / rock-lite / rap-lite / "nothing-music" that literally all sounds the same and most of it awful? :P There's been a long downturn in appreciation for good music IMO. My parents generation (boomers) are more musical than my generation and I think it's getting worse. More of them play instruments. More of them (can) sing. The music they like isn't necessarily highbrow, but it has more musical complexity than most of the stuff on the radio these days. Even simple stuff, like harmony, or a unique rhythm. A lot of popular music today is atonal trash written for the meme generation. Autotune, weak synthesized sounds, highly compressed for punch to the detriment of everything else, same old rhythms, no harmony, barely a melody, etc. I have nothing against dance music, or hip-hop, in fact I have a deep love for music in both of those genres, but there's a thick layer of terrible that rises to the top of the pop charts and you have to dig through it to find music of any worth. I'm no musical elitist, but I do take the time to listen outside my comfort zone and it has broadened my horizons enough that I'm not satisfied listening to whatever tripe some top20 station decides they'll make popular this week. I'd rather listen to Muddy Waters for the 1000th time. :)

blaser-waffle 7y ago
"Millennials are killing music with their beats and their memes" > but there's a thick layer of terrible that rises to the top of the pop charts and you have to dig through it to find music of any worth. This is a trite argument that's been true since the 1950s. Pop is designed to be as lowest-common-denominator as possible, because radio stations need to make money.

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]