Having an ear for Jazz

Very interesting to see Ken Burns 'Jazz' mentioned as a catalyst for Jazz. Among hard-core Jazzistas the documentary over-simplified and incomplete. There was NO mention of Fusion, or Latin Jazz (or the latin connection to the earliest roots of Jazz via New Orleans). I understand (I only saw snippets) there was barely any mention of music created past the 80's. But I think it's fantastic that it brought new fans to the genre. I'm serious!!

I`ve seen those complaints, I don`t buy them. Ken Burns put a lot of effort ,time and research into that series, he has a sincere appreciation for jazz and it shows. With a project of this scale it`s impossible to please every single viewer. Without debate his PBS series introduced jazz music and the great musicians to a large(relatively speaking)new audience. He deserves much credit.

Charles1dad, the several nominations received for awards would agree with you.

I think Diana Krall was first responsible for my Jazz interest , I won't say she's the best , but her warm sultry voice and smooth rhythmic lines grabbed my attention . My audio system also must take some of the blame for my seduction into Jazz . The rock I was reared on made it hard to focus on detailed improvements . But Jazz music made it easy to hear the blatt of horns , the range of the piano , the texture of strings and the warmth and humanness of vocals .

I saw Return to Forever back in 76 but recently have been listening to mostly the classic jazz giants and now do not really think of RTF as jazz, (they have fallen into the noisy catagory). Subconsciously I have dismissed them and other fusion type bands - even though they are still awesome, I think of Mingus, Ellington, Ella, Getz (etc.) as blissfully good and 'real' jazz.