Ain't all that jazz?
So, some of you know I work for a certain jazz organization. We recently had a kickoff party for the jazz festival that starts next weekend. You should check it out!
From my stint with this org, I have given some thought to the meaning of jazz for young people. The jazz camps for which I am mostly devoting my time at work are carrying on an appreciation for the arts (and specifically jazz) that is magical to watch when the kids are abuzz with activity during the week. And the artists sharing their craft is always nice to see too.
When you are spending whole days bleeding your eyes out in front of a computer to help make such a program happen, or talking on the phone with parents who wax poetic about their child's love for the great American art form, one can lose sight/be hyperaware of the fact that in the general populace's eyes jazz ain't all that for most of the kiddies these days. This article reminded me that there is a supposed pending crisis for jazz, and it was also interesting in light of how the Obamas are continually pimped in the media as the messiahs of cool.
There are plenty of examples which cite the presence of jazz in hip hop--and yours truly has pointed this out at least once. This bodes well for the reassertion of its relevance. I certainly believe jazz offers a huge amount of value and great potential in staying relevant and accessible. But I think the article could have raised some deeper questions about jazz and its status as one of the truly great "American" art forms whose audiences are larger often outside of America (like, why is that when I said I was traveling to Slovenia that jazz musicians were the only people I talked to who had been there? The audience is strong enough there that it's worth the trip, and perhaps there aren't enough gigs close to home? OMG there's a jazz camp in Slovenia too? Looks like some serious competition!). What is the significance of a White House endorsement and showcasing of jazz in entwining the genre anew as a symbol of American-ness? I'm probably just not reading the stuff about this or talking to people about it enough, I have to admit, so I'm probably missing out on the answer to this question, but oh well.
Further, it does not talk about the institutionalization of jazz training, which certainly affects its image as a popular art form. For practitioners, the artists themselves, the meaning of jazz and their sustainability as artists (in a recession no less) are some larger questions also at stake. Representations of the glory days when jazz musicians were considered pioneers, iconoclasts, the rebels of society, those responsible for the gestation, birth, and development of cool, are a far cry from the increasing scourge of smooth jazz perjoratives, labelling as easy-listening for the boomer set or the sole purview of intellectual snobs and would-be sophisticates (thoughts generated by attending a session of this conference workshop in Slovenia!). These competing representations that I note as a casual observer show that temporally, we are at a musical crossroads with jazz.
Alright, enough of that pondering. I have to go back to work in the morning.
From my stint with this org, I have given some thought to the meaning of jazz for young people. The jazz camps for which I am mostly devoting my time at work are carrying on an appreciation for the arts (and specifically jazz) that is magical to watch when the kids are abuzz with activity during the week. And the artists sharing their craft is always nice to see too.
When you are spending whole days bleeding your eyes out in front of a computer to help make such a program happen, or talking on the phone with parents who wax poetic about their child's love for the great American art form, one can lose sight/be hyperaware of the fact that in the general populace's eyes jazz ain't all that for most of the kiddies these days. This article reminded me that there is a supposed pending crisis for jazz, and it was also interesting in light of how the Obamas are continually pimped in the media as the messiahs of cool.
There are plenty of examples which cite the presence of jazz in hip hop--and yours truly has pointed this out at least once. This bodes well for the reassertion of its relevance. I certainly believe jazz offers a huge amount of value and great potential in staying relevant and accessible. But I think the article could have raised some deeper questions about jazz and its status as one of the truly great "American" art forms whose audiences are larger often outside of America (like, why is that when I said I was traveling to Slovenia that jazz musicians were the only people I talked to who had been there? The audience is strong enough there that it's worth the trip, and perhaps there aren't enough gigs close to home? OMG there's a jazz camp in Slovenia too? Looks like some serious competition!). What is the significance of a White House endorsement and showcasing of jazz in entwining the genre anew as a symbol of American-ness? I'm probably just not reading the stuff about this or talking to people about it enough, I have to admit, so I'm probably missing out on the answer to this question, but oh well.
Further, it does not talk about the institutionalization of jazz training, which certainly affects its image as a popular art form. For practitioners, the artists themselves, the meaning of jazz and their sustainability as artists (in a recession no less) are some larger questions also at stake. Representations of the glory days when jazz musicians were considered pioneers, iconoclasts, the rebels of society, those responsible for the gestation, birth, and development of cool, are a far cry from the increasing scourge of smooth jazz perjoratives, labelling as easy-listening for the boomer set or the sole purview of intellectual snobs and would-be sophisticates (thoughts generated by attending a session of this conference workshop in Slovenia!). These competing representations that I note as a casual observer show that temporally, we are at a musical crossroads with jazz.
Alright, enough of that pondering. I have to go back to work in the morning.
posted by Em @ 2:17 AM
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