Go Charlie! Blow Dizzy! Squonk Sonny! Belt Benny! Jump Jackie! Oh yes, oh yes, you guessed it! It’s the third annual Jazz Appreciation Month! Jazz is by far THE best music in America, let alone this very universe! It lightens up faces, perks up ears, emblazons eyes into one giant, magnetizing glazed hypnotic trance that is hard to break away from both fully and completely. But why would anyone really want to do that? It soothes the soul; the good side of jazz that is.All that other stuff they call “smooth jazz” was a horrible bowel movement waiting to happen, which has. Smooth jazz by my definition is more than anything, music that doesn’t sound at all like jazz, rather terribly awful attempts to be.
Back in the day, when the category was first created, say about 1995 or so, everyone who was anyone, musician-wise that is, was shoved into that category, including well-known rock and roll artists like Dire Straits and Sting, who were initially miscategorized, but perhaps it was all a plot just to sell more records.
Later as smooth jazz became more organized, more and more musicians who didn’t exactly play jazz were inserted into the mix, yet were thrown into the category, only to sell more records, thus being further mislabeled.
One musician who’s made more dough than any other including John Tesh, is Kenny G (not to be confused with Kenny Garrett). Kenny G’s music is mindless sounding more like bad cheesy music behind a terrible porno flick, yet many uneducated women can’t get enough of him. As my good friend Sergio in Belgrade says, “His music is shit, but it’s great to make love to…”
But enough about crap jazz!
Jazz has many styles including, but not limited to: Bop, hard bop, bebop, free-jazz, avant-garde, traditional jazz, Dixieland jazz, swing, big band, improve jazz, modern, acid and virtually every other category and sub-category that one can come up with, whether the category exists or not.
Jazz, unfortunately, according to statistics, is listened to by less than five percent of the general population. Yet, it has been making a slow to moderate comeback, by the very likes of coffee shops, film scores, television programs and even television and radio commercials too.
Perhaps it’s all a great subliminal campaign to lure listeners back to a great body of work or perhaps good solid jazz has replaced the onslaught of all that rattle-clatter-bang-rubbish they call music these days, the stuff they call shit-hop or rattrap (sic), but anyway…
It’s National Appreciation Month! Go out and see some great live music at your cheap or semi-cheap venue or go grab some from your local library; either way you won’t be disappointed!
http://www.ed.gov/free/jazz.html
