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Kenny G might deserve your comment. But Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman, Charles Mingus...
by wbl 2y ago
Kenny G might deserve your comment. But Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman, Charles Mingus...
- orblivion 2y agoI think some people may have a misunderstanding about what jazz is. I know one friend of mine did. Some jazz may be easy listening, but it's not made for easy listening, it's made to bend the boundaries of music theory. And also a lot of "easy listening" that sounds like jazz isn't really jazz.
- vasco 2y agoSo what is jazz
- gvurrdon 2y agoThe term covers a variety of styles, with old ones hanging around as new ground is broken. Perhaps it is a "meta-genre". There are various articles around explaining its history which might be worth looking at, if you're interested. I'd expect to hear some degree of improvisation in jazz, but not in easy listening.
- TheSpiceIsLife 2y agoThe devils music.
- YagoTheFrood 2y ago"If you have to ask what jazz is, you'll never know." Apocryphal quote by Louis Armstrong.
- vasco 2y ago[flagged]
- technothrasher 2y agoThe original quote is apocryphal, but he did respond to a question from a reporter asking about the quote saying, "Yeah, Daddy. Ya know how it is... jazz is something ya feel... ya live it, that's all." So he wasn't gatekeeping, he was saying the answer to "what is jazz?" was contained in the experience of jazz.
- kid64 2y agojazz != smooth jazz
- browningstreet 2y agoJavaScript != Java These are everywhere…
- DonHopkins 2y agoNew Age rhymes with Sewage
- netdevphoenix 2y agoIt is an approach to music (more than a genre) that relies on elaborate harmonic structures, freedom of interpretation of melody and personalising the harmony, interesting rhythms and time signatures and a general approach of trying to push the boundaries of music making. It is meant to be listened actively as opposed to having it as background music. The capitalisation of music has led us to the commoditisation of music and treating it as audio content as opposed to art.
- fc417fc802 2y ago> It is meant to be listened actively as opposed to having it as background music. The masterpiece hanging in the museum was fully intended to be actively appreciated. The background on the box of cereal is ... just a background on a box of cereal. It's still art though.
- klez 2y agoThat would be the distinction between "fine art" and "decorative art". Jazz as GP meant it is "fine art", the smooth jazz you hear in the elevator could be classified as decorative art.
- fc417fc802 2y agoI think that's a function of the effort, expertise, and intent. I don't think it changes the genre. Smooth, big band, blues, etc - it's all still jazz. A low effort watercolor by an amateur is still (an attempt at) art and remains a watercolor even if no one appreciates it.
- dijksterhuis 2y agoin my personal opinion, which is as valuable as the piece of paper i’m writing this on /s art has no function except to be observed by an audience. if they enjoy it or not is immaterial. its purpose is to be observed. the design of a box of cereal has a purpose - to sell you the box of cereal by making it attractive/stand out/fit the brand. graphic design, when it has purposes beyond being observed, is not art — it’s a craft. like engineering. although graphic design/engineering can become art when it has no purpose except being observed. edit — enjoyment is immaterial and the bits about graphic design can be art etc.
- jdietrich 2y agoIn short, a cultural tradition. At length: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68zOvCLwcL8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68zOvCLwcL8
- shrikant 2y agoI found it easier to "get" when I started thinking of jazz as the beat poetry of music.
- mesofile 2y agothe ‘sound of surprise’
- datadrivenangel 2y agojazz is what you can get away with.
- kunalgupta 2y agodelightful mental pain, like a cold plunge
- Asooka 2y agoNormal people care about music theory as much as they care whether you use jemalloc vs tcmalloc. "Easy listening" is a much more useful everyday definition for them than whatever musicians may want it to be.
- briandear 2y agoKind of Blue is far from “easy listening.”
- maroonblazer 2y agoCompared to Anthony Braxton, "Kind of Blue" is elevator music.
- wbl 2y agoThere's nothing easy about Cecil Taylor.
- orblivion 2y agoNormal people who don't care about music at all, sure they can call it "easy listening" and I won't bother arguing. For anyone who cares about music or even history at least a little, it's worth knowing that jazz is very important to the history of music.
- beacon294 2y agoIt's possible to care only in some modes of your being.
- fuhsnn 2y agoAll jazz artists started as insignificant band members before they found their voice.
- petre 2y agoIf I'd want to crash a party I'd totally play Ornette Coleman.
- couchand 2y agoInteresting that your first counterexample is Charlie Parker. I've been listening to a lot of Phil Schaap's Bird Flight recently (https://www.philschaapjazz.com/sections/bird-flight https://www.philschaapjazz.com/sections/bird-flight). It's funny to see how many of the episodes are Phil describing a recording session more or less like this: "The Bird showed up two hours late to a three and a half hour recording session. They recorded one take each of six tracks, but the recording engineer was surprised when they started so he missed the first half of the first track. And that's how we got the five tracks on <INSERT CRITICALLY-ACCLAIMED ALBUM HERE>."
- dleink 2y agogoes to show, lines of code doesn't equal quality.