Jazz was IMO the finest American art form, and it was objectively instrumental in desegregating the US. It gave America a ton of black heroes like Louis Armstr

Jazz was IMO the finest American art form, and it was objectively instrumental in desegregating the US. It gave America a ton of black heroes like Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald. It left a permanent stamp on music and paved the way for rock'n'roll. It pushed the technical boundaries of many modern instruments. I get what you're saying about becoming older and selection bias, but many of the contemporary criticisms of jazz were rooted in racism. I agree that is some selection bias at play when we think of popular music now vs. popluar music in the 80's. But jazz exists in a whole different dimension from Top 40 music from the last 50 years.