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The State of Jazz

I was recently listening to "The Best of Diana Krall" LP. It is an amazing album. But later, I reflected on the fact that she sang almost entirely 'standards,' which means the songs are all at least 50 years old. Then, I thought, why hasn't the Jazz Community produced any more recent songs that have become standards. Then I thought: it is most likely, that the same standards (i.e., basin street blues; willow weep for me, etc.) will be sung for the next 50 years--and I wondered, are we producing any songs today that will become standards. I don't think so. Bu, why not?
elegal
don_c55
1,025 posts
 
@Chayro

Ever hear of modern or fusion Jazz, which still going strong today?
chayro
3,011 posts
 
@Don - I have certainly heard of fusion Jazz - Return to Forever, Tony Williams Lifetime, Dreams, Weather Report, etc. The fact that people are still playing something doesn't mean that its time of maximum creativity and artistic merit is not over. I'm sure there are thousands of kid trying to play Bach pieces for solo violin, but that doesn't mean the Baroque period hasn't ended.

But again, getting back to the OP, Diana sings old songs because people pay to hear her sing old songs. If they would pay to see her puke in a bucket, I'm sure she'd do that on stage as well. Bad example - People would pay to see her puke in a bucket. I forgot for a second how sick the world is.
czarivey
5,946 posts
 
Don_c55, before Roy Hargrove Miles Davis was incorporating HipHop into jazz
chazro's avatar
chazro
635 posts
 
I guess it's easier to make a blanket statement about Jazz ending blah, blah, blah.... than to do a little digging for yourself. Some people need to be spoonfed and some like to cook their own meals, just sayin'!;)
wolf_garcia
6,734 posts
 
The tendancy to declare that any creative period is "over" just mystifies me, although I realize people need to quantify and catalog stuff...as shallow and innacurate as that might be. I currently work mixing live jazz shows (and other shows)...lucky me! There are BRILLIANT jazz musicians out there playing as good as anybody has, and standards are simply a platform for musicians to play together...Krall has the chops to be taken seriously by the musician community (that's good enough for me), as does the intensly creative and category defying Norah Jones. The current jazz scene is packed with "maximun creativity" and to listen to Jason Moran, Brad Mehldau, Avashai Cohen (either one), Bill Frisell, Bill Charlap, my Uncle Bill (well, maybe not him), Jeremy Pelt, etc. etc., all of whom are writing brilliant stuff that could very well join the legacy of "standards", you can't help but be diggin' it...one needs to merely pull one's head out of their wazoo to see that Jazz is currently doing just fine.
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