I listen to XM radio everyday. If I make a conservative guestimate--I'd say that my chanel selection is either real jazz or bluesville 60%-70% of the time. I like Bebop and maybe one day will be able to play it---I play almost exclusively blues. I know that the roots of most modern music comes from blues and to some extent jazz---BUT what I hear from almost everybody--even the announcers on the radio chanels sometimes is something along the lines on "Keep Jazz/Blues alive" or "this was the height of music in the 30s-40's-50's-60's" ...some even that say those styles are irrelevant and in some cases that the guitar is going the way of the dinosaur---That's so outside my realm of thought---Am I out of the loop or is today's style of music a passing fad that will one day go retro or even see some new guitar centric version of blues/jazz---OR maybe there will just always be pockets of different styles---thoughts?
Is Jazz/Blues really irrelevant in today's world?
- Thread starter guildfan7
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CajunBlues
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Is jazz dying ? Well you would think it should be. But we play about 15 paid gigs a year.
http://www.azdanceband.com/
http://www.youtube.com/user/jazztrptman?feature=watch
I have played for this band for about 5 years now, and there are quite a few people that request the old big band songs from Dorsey, Ellington, Glen Miller, etc...
It may die ?? , but if it were dead our band would never get paid. Just as long as we are getting paid, you can safely say Jazz is still alive.
http://www.azdanceband.com/
http://www.youtube.com/user/jazztrptman?feature=watch
I have played for this band for about 5 years now, and there are quite a few people that request the old big band songs from Dorsey, Ellington, Glen Miller, etc...
It may die ?? , but if it were dead our band would never get paid. Just as long as we are getting paid, you can safely say Jazz is still alive.
My thoughts, as a jazz fan (and folk playing jazz wannabee) and one time jazz critic, except for the Big Band era, jazz has always had a niche market rather than mainstream. The chances it will disappear are small, as are the chances it will replace the latest top 40 in any genre. As to the guitar, it is arguable the most popular instrument in the world and currently it and its cousins (uke, mando, etc) are the only ones that are completely portable, not reliant on power input and can play polyphonic music. The report of its imminent demise is probably the product of an angry piano virtuoso sick of going to parties and having his out of tune piano upstaged by a rank amateur on the perfect instrument, an acoustic guitar. 
Brad
Brad
I think the answer is "No", it is alive and well. Guitarists like Eric Johnson, Derek Trucks, etc. are still playing blues-based music, and selling out shows around the country.
And Paul McCartney is getting rave reviews for his new CD, which is a set of old standards from the time period you mentioned, as well as two originals that sound like the are from the same time. His performance of "My Valentine", clearly in the 30's and 40's genre, at the Grammy's was a nice break from some of the other so called "music" on the show.
I've seen John Pizzarellli a few times, he has quite a following (he also plays guitar on Paul's CD). And his radio show promotes that era's music very well. Check it out at:
http://www.johnpizzarelli.com/RadioDeluxe.html
Now, no way is this music "mainstream", these artists are not covered with tatoos with their pants around their waist, but it is still a "relevant" type of music. I believe it always will be, and I hope I am right - but it will never be the money maker that whatever today's trendy music is, so it will always be sort of under the radar.
I guess its up to us to keep supporting those artists, and keep playing it!
walrus
And Paul McCartney is getting rave reviews for his new CD, which is a set of old standards from the time period you mentioned, as well as two originals that sound like the are from the same time. His performance of "My Valentine", clearly in the 30's and 40's genre, at the Grammy's was a nice break from some of the other so called "music" on the show.
I've seen John Pizzarellli a few times, he has quite a following (he also plays guitar on Paul's CD). And his radio show promotes that era's music very well. Check it out at:
http://www.johnpizzarelli.com/RadioDeluxe.html
Now, no way is this music "mainstream", these artists are not covered with tatoos with their pants around their waist, but it is still a "relevant" type of music. I believe it always will be, and I hope I am right - but it will never be the money maker that whatever today's trendy music is, so it will always be sort of under the radar.
I guess its up to us to keep supporting those artists, and keep playing it!
walrus
CajunBlues
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guildfan7 said:
Dapmdave, my reply was in reference to this statement, which is contained in the original post... Not sure what your post was about, but if you are suggesting my reply was off-base, I don't think so, since this statement is in the original post...
Really its all just semantics... relevant/alive/dead.... whatever...
:wink:
Funny to put Jazz and blues together. That's like 4 or 5 different categories. Old jazz like dixieland, modern jazz, pre-war blues, post-war blues, R&B. Might as well add gospel. I guess if the question is "are the structure and content of these genres still relevant?" I would say structure yes, content evolving. Is classical music still relevant? What does relevant mean? Now I've succeeded in confusing myself. :roll:
I like to play post-war blues and R&B.
I like to play post-war blues and R&B.
fronobulax
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guildfan7 said:
I think you answered your own question.
And to clarify, IMO there is a big difference between a musical style or genre being "dead" and being "mainstream". I'd go so far as to say that a lot of innovation comes from someone who reinvigorates a style/genre that was considered dead or dying. I've often found that with niche genres that I have studied I often know more than the talent providing commentary in a broadcast medium. I'd also suggest that "relevant" is not the best concept to use to describe music since relevance means much different things to someone who is trying to make a living performing, someone who listens, and someone who is starving in a refuge camp in a war torn part of the world.
Great thoughts--so much to consider--and I totally agree that semantics and conclusions are both intricate and maliable subjects. Relativism is a huge part of society (IMO), certainly in the US...Therefore, "pockets" will most likely be around as long as diversity and a realtivistic understanding of life and culture is prevalent. I'm sure that human emotion and the expression of it will always be part of music---so as long as people get the blues--someone is gonna sing about it in some form or fashion. As to the Bebop Jazz---It seems to me that you really have to want it and put the time in---or be a prodigy w/ a passion for it (and put the time in)---Totaly opinion here, but I believe that there are lots of folks who will have this ability and who will have the desire to express it through bebop--at least I hope they will!
adorshki
Reverential Member
'S funny, that's exactly why I decided to concentrate on acoustic, when I started out wanting to be the next Jeff Beck. :lol:Brad Little said:
Anywhere, anytime, baby! 8) :wink:
Walter Broes
Enlightened Member
Almost entirely irrelevant to the music industry probably, but then the music industry itself's been struggling for quite a while.
As music that's interesting to a whole bunch of people, I don't think Jazz and Blues will ever be irrelevant.
As music that's interesting to a whole bunch of people, I don't think Jazz and Blues will ever be irrelevant.
CajunBlues
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dapmdave said:Cajun, no reference to your post was suggested or intended.
Dave
well, don't I feel like a heel... my apologies..
Dr. Spivey
Senior Member
I've been hearing about the impending death of both jazz and blues since I first started listening in the '60s. If anything, I'd say the fan base has grown slightly since then. Jazz and blues are what I listen to more than half the time.
I think the music industry is what's becoming irrelevant. Really, do the words music and industry even belong in the same sentence? :lol:
Walter Broes said:
I think the music industry is what's becoming irrelevant. Really, do the words music and industry even belong in the same sentence? :lol:
guildman63
Senior Member
I have always loved blues, but at 48 I am only one year into my jazz kick. I can say, with disappointment, that most of the artists I recently discovered and like are dead, but their music will live at least as long as I do. As far as becoming irrelevant, that all depends on your perspective. I think of what music will be like in 50+ years, and then I ask myself if Lady Gaga will have her own Sirius channel like Siriusly Sinatra. Perhaps it would be called Gagging on Gaga? :lol: There's room for all kinds of music, and no music ever dies, it just fades away, usually to be reinvented again at some point in time.
bluesypicky
Enlightened Member
Actually crap does die eventually. But then again, some more always comes out :shock: , so you might be right in calling it "reinvented".guildman63 said:
I don't share your projection of Gaga (or Bieber, or Britney or Miley etc.. etc... for this matter) in the future. I think their "musical style" will die, as scores of others have before them.
Blues and Jazz (as classical) won't, beacuse they are the foundation, the slab on which the house has been built if you will...
killdeer43
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I'm riding with you on this observation, Pascal. You nailed it!bluesypicky said:
And don't force me to make a list of the dead and dying!! 8)
Joe
kitniyatran
Senior Member
Well, after Pascal there's nothing left to say!
SouthernSounds
Senior Member
+1 Well said, Mando! The precise words, Pascal!MandoSquirrel said:
All the best,
B.