Are jazz lovers just seniors who go on jazz-themed cruises?

[CTyankee]

My very sweet, new daughter in law (who is an amateur musician) thinks so. When she said this, I was amazed. She doesn't have prejudicies against older people, but this is a "profile" she believes (she is in her 30s).

Is this a feeling in the 30 something generation? She loves good modern music and lives in Manhattan and is very progressive on social and political issues.

I can understand it if she thinks that jazz is all about seniors wanting to hear Duke Ellington, but I think jazz has progressed.

What is going on with 30 somethings?

[JuniperLea]

1. Some of us jazz lovers are devout metal heads as well...

Who also enjoy classic country and classical music. I refuse to be classified, pigeon-holed, or labeled! LOL!

I went to the Playboy Jazz Festival last summer, and the crowd crossed every (imaginary) social line humans have ever made up.

I know one older gentleman who is mad for Dixieland jazz... that's it.

It takes all kinds to make an interesting world.

[CTyankee]

2. I know. I don't know where this comes from.

I don't tink of jazz lovers as old geezers altho I'm sure some are. I don't get her reference.

Iknow it's generational but if so, that is sad. I hope it doesn't mean that jazz is an art form that is dying...

[HuckleB]

14. Well, I hope I'm still listening to jazz, and a whole lot more, when I'm an old geezer.

It is funny, though, my wife and I sometimes hit the concerts of younger pop/rock acts (Conor Oberst, Lily Allen, The Monsters of Folk being the most recent examples), and we do notice that we are the old fogies in the audience at 40.

And so what?

:headbang:

On edit: Heck, my wife actually spent an entire Pogues show in the mosh pit last Fall. It was her first!

[JuniperLea]

27. I took my sons and a nephew to see Ozzy Osbourne...

And gave them mosh pointers, and signals... "if I do this, grab my blouse and follow me out!" hahaha!

My two sisters went too... and when things got rough, I gave the signal... we all got out except Sue! We turned to see her go down once, twice, and a third time! I dove in, grabbed her, and pulled her out! On my way, some long-haired dude's hair got stuck on one of my blouse buttons... I grabbed his hair to keep from ripping the front of my blouse... he turns around and thinks I'm pulling his damn hair! I thought he was going to deck me! I let go so he could see his hair tangled on my button... it was just in the nick of time too!

Ahhhh... childhood education... moshing with Moms... too cool! My kids still take me to metal shows... we saw Heaven and Hell a few months ago:) We saw Heart and we also saw Robert Plant and Alison Kraus... it's all about the balance:)

[HuckleB]

31. Awesome!

Our kid's gotta grow a bit before he hits an actual pit, but, at four, he loves to bounce around the living room with me. It's good exercise -- FOR ME! Speaking of The Pogues, he loves to play them and he goes wild, but after a few songs, he'll request something slower, because, as he says, "The Pogues make you hot."

:toast:

[EFerrari]

3. My brother is a jazz musician and his audience isn't seniors.

:)

[CTyankee]

5. What age are they? nt

[EFerrari]

15. 30s - 40s, I'd say, from eyeballing his crowd.

He usually is doing Broadway type stuff in the city but he regularly sits in at a club in North Beach. It's hard to say because that's only people who see him live. Who knows who buys the CDs. It's a good question, though. I'll have to ask him.

He also teaches and has never had a lack of young students.

[JBoy]

4. There are "jazz cruises"?

That sounds awesome. I'm not a huge jazz fan, but it sounds like exactly the kind of soundtrack I'd want on a cruise.

[CTyankee]

8. I have no idea and I'm a senior that gets LOTS of cruise information!

I travel to Europe every year so perhaps I am not included in the loop but I haven'treally seen that many jazz tours. I think I saw one to Perugia, Italy that has a jazz festival but that wasn't a cruise...so I think she meant Caribbean cruises but I don't get info about them since my interest in travel lies elsewhere (to say the least!)...

[HuckleB]

17. There are probably cruises for every kind of music, these days.

On edit, I just did a Google search for "jazz cruise," and almost everything that came up was for "Smooth Jazz." That might explain some of the perception.

[tridim]

6. Buy her some pot.

[Ignis]

10. +1

[RKP5637]

11. +1000, n/t

[chill_wind]

7. Heck no.

Jazz band and his tenor sax was my son's whole reason for living in his teen years of not that long ago.
It took him and tons of friends and kids like him everywhere- Chicago, New York, New Orleans and now
he's a chef, but he takes off the coat once a week after the kitchen closes and still pours out his soul for
the night crowd. That idea ("just seniors") would really make him chuckle.

[CTyankee]

13. Where do you think she gets this strange idea?

She is an editor at a MAJOR publishing house in Manhattan. She is "into" the music world in NYC. She and my son are both amateur musicians who play almost weekly with other friends who are musicians. I don't get this...

[chill_wind]

23. Alas, I don't know :-(

[HuckleB]

9. If she lives in Manhattan, she's not paying attention.

Tell her to go see Lionel Loueke, Gretchen Parlato, Nicholas Payton, Hailey Niswanger or Taylor Eigsti, who play Manhattan frequently. Tell her to check out The Bad Plus. Or Charlie Hunter. Or Will Bernard. Or Stanton Moore.

Out here in the provinces (in my case, Portland, Oregon), the revival of jazz in recent years has been pushed by a fantastic group of 20 somethings, with many teens coming up in the ranks. Perhaps that explains why a 30 something missed the boat. Although it doesn't explain missing the last four artists I mentioned above.

[CTyankee]

18. I'll email her with these names and post a follow up? nt

[HuckleB]

20. Awesome!

:toast:

And I totally forgot about another youngin' -- Trombone Shorty!

[devilgrrl]

12. I'm just discovering the wonders of Latin Jazz and I love it!

:-)

[chill_wind]

22. Gato Barbieri..

Hope he's on your listening list. Hot hot hot! :-)
I had the joy of hearing him live here in the US once many years ago. I was on the edge of my seat
the entire performance.

[devilgrrl]

25. I will check him out! I'm grooving to Cal Tjader & Eddie Palmieri at the moment.

Same with Antonio Carlos Jobim! :-)

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

16. I'm old and I don't like jazz at all.

[HuckleB]

19. Impossible!

;)

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

21. No, really. I don't like it. Never have.

It's screechy and harsh.

[HuckleB]

24. I know. That's why I winked.

It would be hard to describe a great deal of jazz as screechy and harsh, however, IMO.

:hi:

[Manifestor_of_Light]

54. Depends on what kind of jazz.

Now if it's random notes that sound like they are strangling a pig, I'm with you.

However, lots of jazz has much more structure than that.

I'm a fan of Pat Metheny and Lyle Mays, myself.

[pipi_k]

32. I never really cared much for it either, on the whole

and I'm 57 (don't know if that qualifies as "old"...ha ha)


Had a boss who thought Jazz was like, the ONLY worthwhile music ever played.

I pretty much like most genres, and even in the genres I like there's some crappy music, just like in Jazz there might be a few I do like.

If anybody ever took a peek at my entire music collection, he would probably think it's owned by three or four different people.

:7

[Codeine]

26. The most devout jazz fan i know is under 40.

Dude has encyclopedic knowledge of the genre. I only enjoy the squonkier stuff -- Ornette Coleman's really outrageous material and the like.

[BlueJazz]

28. Jazz people are young no matter what their age. Studies have shown that people..

...who don't "Get" Jazz usually don't have the ears or brain for complex variations of tone..
Not their fault...just the way it is..

[Codeine]

35. What studies would those be? nt

[kurtzapril4]

52. I don't "get" jazz...

Never did, never will, and don't want to. I much prefer playing and listening to rock music.

I've been playing bass for 32 years. Think my ears are pretty big.

I'd love to see that study, too.

[DemoTex]

29. I'm a senior: I played jazz bass (USO tour, union, pick up with well-known bands, etc)

I could recommend so many great jazz sides, but this relatively new cover of an old Thelonius Monk tune (and many others) is possibly the best place to start:



Listen here:

http://www.nonesuch.com/albums/the-bright-mississippi

[HuckleB]

30. Toussaint rocks!

[Webster Green]

37. Some of the best shows I have seen.

I saw him in Golden Gate Park in October. He was great, as usual. :thumbsup:

[HuckleB]

42. Ah, almost any show in Golden Gate Park must be fantastic!

:toast:

[GreenTea]

33. One only has to listen to the great Charles Mingus - A genius & as cool a musician/composer

as there ever was....Mingus' album, "Ah Um" (Better Git It In Your Soul, Goodbye Pork Pie Hat & Fables Of Faubus).

And just listen to Miles and Coltrane or Dexter Gordon's album - "Dexter Blows Hot & Cool" and all will be, or should be understood.

Go to this site to listen to all that I mentioned for free and as long as you like!!
http://www.lala.com/

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

34. Mick Jagger is a jazz lover? Does he take cruises?

[NRaleighLiberal]

36. Odd generalization! I got into Classical at 6, rock at 7, and jazz at 20.

Keith Jarrett and Pat Metheny turned me on to jazz. Now, at 54, my wife and I listen to everything (rock from Arcade Fire to Wilco) - my 28 year old and 24 year old daughters listen to everything as well.

Nothing to do with age or "cruises" at all, as far as I can tell.

[Toucano]

38. Wal-Mart is the largest retailer of recorded music in the country

The last time I checked (more than 5 years ago - thank you), they did not have a jazz section or a single jazz recording.

Sad, sad state of cultural literacy when a nation´s most significant cultural achievement doesn´t even merit a bargain bin.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

39. I'm nearly 30 and jazz is my favorite genre of music.

[a la izquierda]

40. i dunno, i like jazz.

i don't listen to it enough to know who anyone is, though. but i have a jazz station on our directv, and i love listening to it when i'm studying or writing (i'm a 32 year old grad student).
i don't know what the deal is with the rest of the 30somethings. mostly, they probably stink.

[kittykitty]

41. North Sea Jazz Cruise Click to see video URL Marcus Miller - and more

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=55094538
Great ship, great accommodations. Great Jazz

[Beringia]

43. Has she read a book on jazz n/t

[misanthrope]

44. She is sadly mistaken...

...I founded a jazz society, have taught jazz history and had a jazz radio show and the fans run the gamut.

[immoderate]

45. I have a friend that I tried to get interested in jazz...

He said, "I can't listen to this; my PARENTS listen to this!"

Like someone alluded above, I concluded that he doesn't have the receptors necessary.

Jazz is my first love. Drawn to it since I was a little kid. But jazz is magnanimous. It inspires curiosity in other sounds. I have recordings of rock, classical, and I listen to Slim Whitman, the Dixie Cups, (Chicks too) King Sunny Ade, the Ramayana Monkey Chants of Bali, and the Klezmatics, among others. Then it's back to Monk and Ellington.

I prefer to admire metal from a distance, as well as opera. Both are so pretentious. My favorite Christian is Charlie. (Linda wasn't so bad either.)

Among the arts, music is unusual in that it ties together a generation. Not so much for painting, sculpture, poetry, etc.

--imm

[CTyankee]

46. The whole point of opera is exaggeration and outsized-ness and this, I think,

is what you mean by "pretentious." Opera is appreciated by the masses in Italy, so it is not just pretentious snobbery. It is what it is. I love opera. I always tell people to start out with Puccini when they say they don't know opera...I tell them to see La Boheme. If it is well done they will change their preconceptions about opera and fall in love with it...after all, look at what happened after the Three Tenors sang Nessun Dorma (Puccini again) as the finale of their shows...people who did know too much about opera LOVED it!

[immoderate]

47. I like to listen to some arias. But whole operas can be a bit tedious. (IMO)

Sure, Nessun Dorma gets to me too. BTW, Ramsey Lewis does a good rendition of that.

I agree that pretentiousness is part of the act. And production values were developed in a time before amplification, which had its effect on singing style. My earliest musical memory is listening to "Un Bel Di" on the Victrola. But when I first heard jazz (actually jump blues) the syncopation got to me. from there it was Bach and on to Stravinsky.

--imm

[CTyankee]

48. Great music is great music, I agree. I, too, love jazz, Bach and Stravinsky.

Many years ago I went to Rio de Janiero with my mother and first heard bossa nova, before it came to the U.S. I fell in love with the genre and have loved it ever since.

A discovery of great art is one of the delights of my life.

[immoderate]

49. Yeah, Portuguese is my favorite language that I don't understand.

I usually prefer instrumental jazz, but make an exception for bossa nova/samba because I can't understand it. Portuguese is a particularly beautiful and soft sounding language.

Just thought of the compositions of Hector Villa-Lobos like "Bachianas Brasilieras" -- how Bach would have written bossa nova.

--imm

[CTyankee]

51. I thought Rio was beautiful and the people are extravagantly gorgeous!

Interesting about Portuguese. I went to Portugal last year on an art junket and found it disappointing in many respects. I really couldn't get into the fado music and the culture's good art was all from plunder taken from their various colonies in China, India and Africa.

The Portuguese sung in bossa nova music is just mesmerizing...but I think it is the Brazilian Portuguese rather than the original that makes it so lovely...just my sense of it...

[immoderate]

53. All my experience is with Brazilian Portuguese and mostly through Samba.

I had some Brazilian students in my classes when I taught middle school. I used to encourage them to chatter so I could listen to the music in their voices. They must have thought I was weird. Little did they know...

I spent some time in France. Got good enough to pin some accents by region. And I became sensitive to the "awfulness" of Canadian French. It was a learned reaction. It's like we have been conditioned to react to people who type in all caps. (Those poor Romans.) Anyway it may be like that in Portuguese, but in reverse. The colonies got the "good" accent.

--imm

[Manifestor_of_Light]

55. I tell people to start with Mozart and Puccini.

Mozart is not overblown like Wagner and R. Strauss (YUCK).

Do you know what bored classical musicians do? They play jazz.
Classical organists are supposed to improvise, like Bach did. So are Jazz people.

Example: Jean-Luc Ponty. Went to the Paris Conservatory, got the Grand Prix as outstanding student.

Didn't want to saw his life away in a symphony, or as a soloist with symphonies, so he hung out with George Duke and Frank Zappa.

Made a lot more money that way.

[CTyankee]

56. I would tell people to go to Mozart but his operas are awfully long.

Puccini has the lovliest arias and they have that more modern feel. A real unknown to lots of audiences, including me until recently is "Chi il bel sogno di Doretta" from the not often done "La Rondine."

Some real beauties in Mozart, tho, no doubt..."soave il vento" in Cosi fan Tutti, "voi che sapete" in Nozzi di Figaro, for instance...

[librechik]

50. EVERY DAY amateur jazz musicians under 30 set up their amps and axes

in the big central Flinders Street train station in Melbourne AU and play their little hearts out. A lot of them are young Asians. There is a strong jazz movement among Asian musicians. This is a living genre of music where new compositions as well as lovingly retold jazz standards are heard and passed on to others. Jazz is not an archaic form loved only by the dying.

We go to jazz festivals where there is always a showcase for young musicians from the conservatories and universities. What fun it is to see these teenagers "get it" and turn an old form into a new form with their improvisation and input.

Jazz is a living art form being recreated everyday by young musicians and old alike.

[SolidGold]

57. Gltich Jazz, Acid Jazz, Nu Jazz - not the old flail crap

The jazz that is in today is primarily electronic infused and influenced jazz.

Look up:

Jaga Jazzist
Red Snapper
London Elektricity

etc.

Watch these!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVIFUQV20NM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDyqbNI8PAM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOruqzEI6Mo

All modern, all massive shows and followings.

Asking why people don't listen to Old jazz is like asking why only old people listen to country western music. It's because the shits outdated and has been replaced!