I love jazz, my yes, but I have a friend who hates the stuff and persists on informing me that no-one likes Jazz. Obviously this isn't true, but he loves to ramble on about how unpopular it is today. To be honest I don't care about his ignorance, but I was wondering exactly how popular others would class it.
There are many radio shows, festivals and even TV prgrammes now and again devoted to Jazz and I don't even need to tell you about the number of people still making Jazz today and going on about those who did nearly a centuary ago!

What do you think?

It's true there are a lot of people out there who openly think and say they don't like jazz. When you ask them why, it turns out they think "jazz" means avant-garde jazz, which they see as a lot of self indulgent abstract meanderings and noise.

If they were to sit down and actually listen to the whole panoply of jazz, from New Orleans through swing and bebop to modern, they would find something they like. Duke Ellington is very accessible and so is much swing; most people probably don't even realise it's called jazz.

But yes it's true, most regular people don't think they like jazz.

Violinia

hi Violinia,

So true, and I think this 'bad press' has afflicted "classical" music too which, excluding the avant garde, I take to be music not intended to be played through loudspeakers. How much of it is down to an attitude purveyed in marketing pop, I don't know.

I'm well aware that many pubs have dropped live music in favour of the "karaoke nights" cheaper and for more boozy. That does music no good at all which I've always understood to be a basic human and social process...but not churned out by factories.

It was heartening to learn recently that "classical" music and jazz are enjoying a bit of a revival. Perhaps people are fed up with todays hi-tech pop?

All the best,
Rhapsodin.

How popular is Jazz?

Well, it does have a limited audience, let's face it - I love Jazz and I know many millions of other people do - otherwise it wouldn't sell and concerts wouldn't happen, and there wouldn't be entire walls dedicated to selling cds in most decent music stores. However, if you compare CD sales for Jazz and classical music to the pop charts (eeew! Shudder to think of them!), and the Rock and alternative charts you will find that Jazz struggles to compete. I'm looking for exact figures but they're hard to come by...

The point is Jazz IS popular, it DOES sell, and although it doesn't outshine Rock/Pop sales, it is right up there, along with Country and Classical music.. in fact I'd wager (here's a risky bet) that Jazz outsells classical music by a wee bit...??! Any takers? I could be wrong of course!

However, the reason for starting this thread is daft - whoever thinks Jazz is really that unpopular is missing a bolt or two... Or just hasn't got a clue about the reality of the music industry. Jazz DOES sell! I know! I once worked in a record store! (many moons ago!)

You also have to allow for the fact that Tower Records' and HMV's central london shops sell enough jazz to dedicate a separate room to their sales. Not sure about Virgin - it's been some time since I visited that shop.

Sigh, we're talking about regular people here. You work in a record store, you sell a lot of jazz CD's maybe, but you don't know how far these people have travelled to find some jazz.

How much jazz is played on the radio? Comapred to the amount of pop music? Even jazz FM hardly plays any jazz, believe me! They have a programme at 7.00 called Dinner Jazz where they play some smooth stuff and the occasional decent track, but that's about it and the rest of what they play is funk and jazz funk. Radio 3 has some good jazz programmes but how much jazz do you see on TV? There isn't even a regular jazz slot and hardly ever has been.

About 15 or so years ago there was a fashion for jazz, with the emergence of Courtney Pine and Andy Sheppard, but that died down to be replaced with something else. Recently there's been another resurgence of interest in "jazzy stuff" with the emergence of people like Jamie Cullum, Norah Jones, Katie Melia etc, but it's easy listenin' stuff isn't it? Not that there's anything wrong with that per se, but it's another fashion and people will soon tire of it and move onto the next thing. What's really good out of all that will last, and the dross will disappear.

So please get real; most people have never heard of the great greats of jazz; it's a minority interest and maybe always will be, more's the pity.

Violinia

Well, that's all pretty much what I had already mused, just wanted to see what people thought! I am still at school though and I can tell you, it's like finding a grain of sand in a jar of salt with regards to finding someone who even thinks jazz is remotely acceptable. It's similar with classical music, but strangely I think it's even worse. There are so many people I can think of in my year who would turn up their noses at even a hint of the J word! It's quite honestly diabolical - I'm not asking anyone even to like the stuff, but it quite clearly has its place in the world. Tsk tut and tut.

QUOTE (Violinia @ Sep 13 2004, 09:30 PM)

Sigh, we're talking about regular people here.  You work in a record store, you sell a lot of jazz CD's maybe, but you don't know how far these people have travelled to find some jazz. So please get real; most people have never heard of the great greats of jazz; it's a minority interest and maybe always will be, more's the pity. Violinia

(sigh) Perhaps there is some truth in what you say, and I would have to agree, Jazz and Classical music are minority interests, when compared with Rock and pop.. (As I said) Granted, I wouldn't have known how far people travelled to buy their cds; although I can remember a great deal of them being locals. (whatever relevance that has!)

However, the impression given here is almost as if Jazz never sells and is wildly unpopular to the point of extinction.. Which I am pleased to say, it is not! Maybe back catalogue items of the live version of Coltranes 'a Love supreme' has trouble matching sales figures for the Darkness's debut album, but that's to be expected surely?! Admittedly, there appears to be a rather large void at the moment, with precious few, new artists appearing on the scene, but Jazz is still chugging along gleefully.

Minority or not, record sales still run into many millions upon millions, and that's sufficient for me to believe that Jazz isn't dead yet! Of course most 'regular' (whatever that means) people aren't massive fans of Miles Davis, and couldn't rabbit on about how much they loved some of his phrasing on the albums he did in the late sixties... or any other Jazz great for that matter...

That's fine, they don't need to be! Jazz gets by very well without them... whoever they are!

Don't worry Chris. The fact that those around you act (apparently) from ignorance rather than being informed says it all.
It's a trick of marketing pop which isn't marketed as music per se but a 'scene', a culture - dress, music, media, leisure pursuits, slang, clubs, holidays etc.
It's an insidious trap for the "target market" i.e. teenagers, who are caught early and taught to trust those authoritative TV/Radio voices that tell them what to do, what to buy, etc. Those who don't comply risk being cast out. The herd instinct, I suppose.

However, you are evidence that it doesn't work with everyone. Some are happier to drive their own life. You like jazz and it IS there. You might be out there making it oneday. Try to visit HMV in Oxford St. You'll find jazz downstairs to the left. It covers just about everything from trad to avant garde (and a few noises that I wouldn't listen to), big band, ensemble, solo, you name it. You'll find some obscure stuff too. Where else could I buy Jazz at Massey Hall out of a browser?

So it's there. Just steel yourself and go your own way - you're onto something enduring and varied, unlike the tunnel-visioned pop herd who are mere puppets to fashion and the avaricious profiteering of the consumerist supremos. You can pretend to be one of that crowd while enjoying your own thing. That's role playing and what's wrong with it?!?!
All the best,
R

Most of my friends think I have a wierd taste in music... infact they think i'm wierd anyway so it doesn't matter.

Oh ye Jazz definately rules

QUOTE (chris118 @ Sep 13 2004, 10:58 PM)

There are so many people I can think of in my year who would turn up their noses at even a hint of the J word!

Ah, that reminds me of something I noticed in my sixth form common room. We had a radio and the usual trendy bunch had hijacked it and were switching stations frantically to find something they approved of. Eventually they found some not-bad 70s soul groove and decided that "this was alright". They left it on while a few songs of a similar kind played straight through, and they seemed to rather like it. But then - when the last song finished - a soft-voiced announcer informed the common room smoothly that they were "listening to Jazz FM." The response was instant. "Eww! Jazz! Turn it off! Who the **** picked this station?" and so on... But the interesting thing was, it was the word "jazz" and not the actual music that did it.

Now I know that music wasn't really jazz, but still... it's interesting to see what a label can do. If those songs had been on Kiss FM they would have passed without comment.

Oh well... people can be sheep sometimes. In fact a lot of the time.

xx

QUOTE (singingsiren @ Sep 14 2004, 08:48 PM)

Oh well... people can be sheep sometimes. In fact a lot of the time.

so true!!

i think a lot of people are misled to what jazz actually is. they also don't realise what a wide range of styles it encompasses. i think children need to be introduced to it earlier in the curriculum... i didn't study any jazz until AS level...