Is Jazz Dead?

[Massed Gadgets]

I'm certainly one who champion's new music and think there are a lot of exciting things happening in music now, not just back in the 60's and 70's. But there's one genre I don't find myself listening to anything new. That's jazz of course. It's not for lack of trying. I browse and listen to a lot of new jazz releases, but nothing seems inspiring. There's so much of this vaguely jazzy pop music out there, and so much smooth jazz. When it says 'fusion', it's usually worldbeat with jazzy overtones. And the few jazz artists that are doing something that sounds like the great jazz of yesteryear are doing just that...sounding exactly the same, but with better production. I notice in the jazz thread lots of talk of Miles Davis and other artists from the 60's and 70's, but little mention of anything new, other than archival releases. So does anyone know of any jazz bands of the modern era who are doing music that's challenging, exciting and interesting? Or is jazz dead?

[PublicImage]

There isn't really anything I can think of except for Acoustic Ladyland and John Zorn, but the latter is hardly new.

Polar Bear, also.

[Massed Gadgets]

Yeah, Zorn has been around for a while, though he is still doing vital and interesting stuff. Some of it I wouldn't exactly call jazz, though, but a lot of it certainly is. Thanks for the heads up on Acoustic Ladyland, I will have to check them out.

Another current band I love is Mushroom. A few of their albums wouldn't be considered jazz, but most of their output certainly is, and it's very exciting and fresh. Analog Hi-Fi Surprise is one of my favourites, but last year's Joint Happening was my favourite album of 2007.

[mosespa]

I think that once jazz blended with rock (fusion/prog or whatever you want to call it,) it got diluted.

For me, the "vocabulary" of jazz has become so well established that it's almost like "Classical" music now, in that there are certain "rules" to be adhered to in order for a music to be considered "jazz." It's actually become somewhat formulaic, imo.

Which is kind of the antithesis of what jazz was about, right?

[Hogtown]

Jazz guitar: Bill Frisell...well, he's been around a while now.

I always forget to write things down, but we have at least one decent jazz station and a few others that have jazz in rotation. So, I do hear nifty things once in a while, but because ALL my radio listening takes place in a car, it is soon forgotten.

[henno]

jazz is just one step in the progression of music....

to try to tangible-ise it into a set of rules, time period or defined parameters is futile IMO...
thats like trying to distinguish colours in the rainbow... at what point does red stop and orange start??... or blue .. or violet??....

therefore what was classically defined as 'jazz' was only an amalgamation of blues, african rhythms and timing expressed in a freeform media....

i can see elements of jazz still prevalant in the likes of sigur ros and bjork.... and also in radiohead and flaming lips etc...

i agree with mossey that those who try to formulaise jazz and solidify the rules are actully going against the true spirit of jazz....

[wiped]

To answer the original question ... I hope so

[Hudini]

What the feck was jazz?

[Hogtown]

It is not dead. It just has a smaller audience, and no real mass popular star.

[Idisaffect]

What the feck was jazz?

Aha ha ha ha. ha ha. Ha ha ha ha..lol...lofeckingl....Someday people will be saying what the feck was music? It will be all machine hum and computer noise. It will be video game background soundscapes. People will be saying what the feck was pink floyd.

Jazz is best when it is played by Kenny G. That is REAL jazz music! He is the greatest musician of all time and if not for him jizz, I mean jazz, would be dead. Kenny G is the single most important musician of the last 25 years. The complexity of his solos and his hairstyles will never be matched! If you want to know what the feck jazz is...listen to the G man. He's fecking amazing and he used to play with Miles Devis. The fecking trempet player. Kenny G taught Miles every fecking thing he knows. Jizz lives in the horn of the master Kenny G.
His new 8 cd set is available now at all fine Taco Bells near you.
Get with it or be left behind!

Now feck off.

[PublicImage]

Metal Box by Public Image Ltd. is the only jazz album I like.

[Vidar]

One "new" jazz band I like is the Esbjörn Svensson Trio, RIP.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esbjörn_Svensson_Trio

[Hudini]

Seriously though, I like the kind of jazz that's being played in these parts of the third world in the last ten or so years. It has a lot of ethnic musical motives from these parts, which basically means a lot of odd rhythms which are very welcome in jazz if you ask me. If anyone's interested in hearing some of this, I recommend you Vasil Hadžimanov Band.

[zag]

So does anyone know of any jazz bands of the modern era who are doing music that's challenging, exciting and interesting?

The Bad Plus
http://www.thebadplus.com/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OruzDa0He-g
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txVSX_DOrpI

[Eclipse]

Hiromi Uehara is an amazing recent piano player who has some albums showing her mad sk1llz.

Also check this video, especially the passage right after 6:45 : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2m4Oy9T ... re=related . The way she looks at Chick Corea is wild. I wonder what happened after the performance.