Is improvisational jazz to impressionism art as smooth jazz is to realism art?

@estreams: Your view of the different strains of Jazz can lead one to this fact: amongst some musicians, the more "difficult" a music is, the more artistic it is. It’s a form of snobery, one I clearly hear in the music of, for instance, Frank Zappa. The term "abstract" is, I believe, a better one than impressionism for what you are talking about.

The snobery comes from the belief that more complex and/or difficult (atonal, lack of melody and/or traditional song chord progressions/structure) music expects and asks more of the listener, requiring a knowledge of music theory, if only to discard it in practice.

If I may suggest a (non-Jazz) music which is very formally structured, melodic, and "inviting" (unlike the off-putting "difficult" strains of Jazz), give J.S. Bach a try. His music is all of the above, but in Baroque music the musician is often free to add his own improvisation embellishment to the written score. In fact, in the 17th and 18th centuries that ability was expected. It’s almost like a musician taking a solo in a song, though to a lesser degree.

Abstract Art was a CIA project. No kidding... Classified Documents revealed that the whole market for doodle art was created by the CIA, they wanted to show the west as being more advanced and progressive compared to the Rigid Soviet Union.
The agency paid curators, and bought the art to kick start the market.
I think their motives were more of an experiment, to see if they could influence people to abandon classical standards, and accept the post modernism view, that there is no objective beauty.
If you don’t get abstract art and music, don’t worry... you still have a functioning brain, and are probably smarter than the average Joe.

The key to enjoying jazz of any type is to listen to it. Listen to all of it.

My cousin introduced me to jazz around the age of fourteen. I cut my teeth on West Coast Jazz. Dave Brubeck Quartet, Howard Rumsey's Light House All-Stars, Shelley Mann, Cal Tjader, etc. It all made sense and sounded so melodic. I loved it.

My cousin loved the likes of Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker, and Charles Mingus. I couldn't stand them. My cousin told me to just keep listening, and I would eventually get it. Sure enough, one night while listening to Monk, the lightbulb went on and I realized that the man was a musical genius. The rest followed suit. 

A friend of mine is an ex-studio musician (guitar). He loves opera. I couldn't stand it. My friend told me the same thing my cousin did about jazz ... just keep listening to it. So, I put a cassette tape of some opera arias in my car and started listening. Bingo! I now have a very nice collection of complete operas and opera highlights. 

So, to the OP and others who don't get abstract jazz, just keep listening. Once you realize that the players are in complete control of the music, you'll start to get it. It helps to follow the bass line. 

Frank

Thank you all for sharing your thoughts and insights on this thread. I wrote the OP piece last night after many bourbons and a cigar enjoying being down at Auburn’s  campus with the anticipation of going into a stadium to see a college football game for the first time in 2 years!  So I’m glad that the post made sense to some and apologies to those whom it didn’t. I do enjoy other music like the classic rock I grew up with in the 60’s and especially 70’s (Led Zep and Steely Dan especially).  I also listened to a lot of Funk & Soul back in the 70’s which may have laid the groundwork for my later in life Jazz enjoyment.  I do like some of Stanley Clark, Dave Brubeck, and definitely love the Miles led Kind of Blue album!I’ve found that as I got into my late 50’s and early 60’s, i can only “take” small doses of “cacophony”.  That said, I like the advice, many of you provided, to try a little harder dig deeper into improv jazz to appreciate the artists skill and interplay for what it is and don’t focus on lack of melody.  
@bdp24, you suggested J. S. Bach. That reminded me of the music appreciation class i took in college. Our professor told us at the beginning of the semester that our final exam would consist of him dropping the needle on any song on any record of 10 or more classical music composers and we would have to name the composer and the piece. I spent untold hours that semester in the library listening to cassette tape recordings of all the pieces that might be on the exam. I should reconnect with that genre. One last thought, going back to my “cacophony” complaint; i know i need better resolving speakers than what i have today. I have a feeling that hearing a better separation of instruments and notes could help open the aperture to broader jazz & genre enjoyment. 

Why such long answers for an obvious answer is curious. I know several engineers, nice guys but clueless re:abstraction.