[Closed] Jazz. I dont get it. Who does?

Just about the only type of music I can't/won't listen to...

...I'm an uneducated heathen I know. Happy in my ignorance.

Not so keen on the actual music.

Enjoy the magazines though. 😉

I like this dude:

but that's about it.

I liked the bits on The Fast Show, other than that, meh

There are people, and I’ve read their comments in the Daily Mail*, who maintain that a real grown-up, adult male will stop listening to all that pop/rock stuff and start listening to real music, ie jazz, after the age of 30. Yeah, right! #rollseyes

FWIW, I really can’t get to grips with modern jazz, but I do like jazz-influenced music, like Weather Report, Jaco Pastorious, Steely Dan, Donald Fagan, and a lot of early prog was heavily jazz influenced, especially Gentle Giant, Greenslade, Soft Machine, Van DerGraaf Generator, Yes...

*No, I never bought it, my late step-dad did, and I used to look through it, for research purposes, just to see how bad it could get. I was seldom disappointed.

Jazz, there are so many directions it can take and a great deal of genres it can intermingle with, there's the simplicity of this,

to this, it is sublime,

or there's this from a Renault advert after Nicole left, https://youtu.be/fuqW-wUZ8V4

The late Stevie Ray Vaughan, a blues-rock guitarist with a very enviable quality, copied this song to a very highly appreciated accolade, https://youtu.be/Um1lA9m4wL0

Or this, https://youtu.be/raSky8DV090 with Chesley Millican on saxophone, get your grove on.

There is a million tunes of a similar style out there, you just have to find it. This will blow your toes off.

https://youtu.be/x70G-NhyUPI

Some of the best stuff I have listened to, proper riffing off each other can't be beaten but the trumpet from the link up there is one of my favourites.

You need to be in the dark and dingy room, drinking spirits or cocktails and have the right person to dance with to appreciate it

I like listening to a lot of jazz music.  Especially late at night.

Django Reinhardt, Paul Whiteman Orchestra, Acid Jazz, Latin-jazz, Afrobeat, Jazz-fusion (with a rock and/or classical bias, ie Stereolab, Soft Machine, Magma, Miles Davies circa Bitches Brew), David Axelrod, also Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, etc etc.

But that stuff on the Fast Show just turned me off jazz so much that I binned everything.

Not really 😉

But avant-garde/free jazz (think that's what OP is referencing) I never really got into.  Same with rock music, does anyone really listen to those crazy cookie-monster vocals and endlessly recycled sub-Iommi riffs and doom-laden lyrics about endless armageddon and necrophilia in mythical places?

PS really enjoyed the movie 'Whiplash'.  Give it a watch/listen, recommended.

PPS the most recent jazz thing I heard on the radio that sat me down hard and stopped the world in it's tracks so I listened was 'Integrity' by Kamasi Washington.  Some tunes just smack you in the heart whether you are expecting it or not.  Now a big fan of his,

It's the widest of genres.

Pick what ever kind of music you like, add the word 'jazz' and there's your starting point. Tuck in.

Latin Jazz remix anyone?

It won't hurt...

https://open.spotify.com/user/pauldahill/playlist/478wi4LZyjCS1Jo6y26xnI

OP - Don't write off a whole genre until you've written it all off?

There's a world of difference between ELO and GSY!BE, or Bonnie Tyler and Led Zeppelin, just like the worlds between between Chet Baker and Soft Machine, or Ella Fitzgerald and Tito Puente

some jazz music genres:

Acid Jazz
Avant-Garde Jazz
Big Band
Blue Note
Contemporary Jazz
Cool
Crossover Jazz
Dixieland
Ethio-jazz
Fusion
Hard Bop
Latin Jazz
Mainstream Jazz
Ragtime
Smooth Jazz
Trad Jazz

I used to dislike it, but now listen to Hard Bop.

Got there via listening/playing  Blues and Swing.

There are so many genres, many I wouldn't listen to.

An easy way into it is Oscar Peterson, Duke Ellington, Count Basie.

For some superb Hard Bop try Art Blakie, Moanin.

I have like jazz since from around 16 years old and still listen to it regularly today (34 years later). I also like death metal, indie bands, dance music and I even like a bit of prog rock.

What I won't listen to is all the pop stuff that get's into the charts. Never have and never will.

And I mean really enjoy it – the proper whacky drums and no melody sax stuff.

Saying that, I don't enjoy every bit of jazz that is produced and don't like the really freeform stuff very much

One of my current favourite albums is jazz. A Humdrum Star by GoGo Penguin.

These are just the bees, not traditional, but groovy.

The lovely Candy Dulfer. woof. 

Check out the piano player and the very young drummer.  ?sqp=-oaymwEWCKgBEF5IWvKriqkDCQgBFQAAiEIYAQ==&rs=AOn4CLAyQegwJsgzc7CfKVEZhTPXckYwNQ

I'm really into Cheese Infested Mouse Freak by The Karibu Reference Collective

That's a lovely track Malvern Rider. Thanks.

does anyone really listen to those crazy cookie-monster vocals and endlessly recycled sub-Iommi riffs and doom-laden lyrics about endless armageddon and necrophilia in mythical places?

Yes. I do, as do millions of people around the world; but hey, you stay there cocooned in your own, special little world so you don't infect mine.

as above, you can't dismiss a genre as wide as jazz - you may as well dismiss cheese because edam's a bit shit.

But I'd like to see jazz ideas introduced into other mainstream pastimes. Like freeform football. The game would start as usual, 11 vs 11, reds vs blues, etc. And go on for 10 or 15 minutes, but at some random point, someone just gets the ball and sets off on a mazy dribble while everyone else just keeps warm. Where's he going? no-one knows - he's actually off the pitch now and basketballing the ball up into the top tier of the West Stand; meanwhile the reds have brought 3 subs on, all goalkeepers and the blues are attempting a human pyramid. After 5 minutes of this the player dribbles the ball back on, and play resumes AS IF NONE OF THE PREVIOUS 5 MINUTES EVER HAPPENED except for a gentle round of appreciative applause from both sets of fans.

Until 10 minutes later......... the blue's manager takes to the pitch wearing a top hat and riding a zebra.......

I think it can be summed up in a joke my guitar teacher used:

whats the difference between a rock guitarist and a jazz guitarist?

one plays three chords to thousands of people.....

I’m really into Cheese Infested Mouse Freak by The Karibu Reference Collective

I preferred their earlier work when Jake was on percussion.

I don't really get it but I'm trying to learn. Started playing in a big band last year and occasionally get encouraged to play a solo improvisation which was scary because I didn't know where to start. Just had a lesson this week and now broadly understand pentatonic scales in major and minor keys. I think understanding will help with appreciation. For example, I apologised for sometimes playing an E which wasn't in the scale of the particular key we were playing in but apparently that was OK because it was 9th which sounds lovely. Quite possibly why I played it too because it felt ok.

Anyway, some good stuff up there ^^^ to explore.

I like jazz a lot and listen to some most days. I particularly like the styles/era in mikewsmith’s Spotify playlist, I would recommend that to anyone unfamiliar with jazz. I even like some of the avant-garde/free pieces.

I hate football, the otherjonv’s freeform football sounds much better : )

I like theotherjonv's point there, particularly as is I'd much rather listen to the most out-there jazz than watch football.

how many of you enjoy football?

And I mean really enjoy it – the proper boring wet Wednesday no-score-draw between teams of monstrously overpaid sex-offenders stuff?

I love sport  – a few different types. And I have always thought I’d “get” football one day as an acquired taste – but it isnt going to happen.

😉

I always liked this quote / line about jazz...

"Once is an error, twice is jazz"

My old GCSE and A level maths teacher (rip) used to play Fats Waller and similar stuff to us in class during the run up to exams. Never sure why but it was probably about the only type of jazz I've managed to tolerate. In the same way I'm not keen on mainstream p(l)op I think it's not interesting enough to me to try and explore the different sub genres.

Coltrane

As others have said, ‘jazz’ is too broad to write off because of one aspect you may not ‘get’. That said, I love even the more abstract stuff.

It may help if you have a musical background, but if you think about the music as being something more like a sound-essay or soundscape, you can start to appreciate it more, I think. If you go looking for a melody, punctuated by a catchy chorus, you’re always going to be disappointed.

I would suggest finding something difficult and listening not for a coherent sound so much as a coherent idea. You might then start to hear something that interests you.

Good thread, OP.

That trad jazz stuff that the Fast Show took the piss out of (brilliantly), nah. Some vocal-style jazz I can cope with. There are some new artists doing a form of jazz I really can’t stand - like Badbadnotgood, Thundercat etc. Then again, badbadnotgood do some stuff with rappers that i love. So as with all genres, I can’t say I can dismiss the whole lot, there’s always gonna be something that’ll appeal to my lugholes.

Mr Edward Hornby to the forum please....

As a music obsesses kid I was lucky enough to live in Manchester - Decoy  Records, Band On The Wall etc.

Heard some great stuff on random nights out, bought some £1.99 Blue Note compilations and got stuck in.

Decoy was an amqzing record shop before it was destroyed by the IRA. Genuinely friendly and helpful people. They sold me a Latin Jazz sampler which really got me, still listen to lots of new stuff.

Met some very knowledgeable, talented and eccentric individuals too.

🙂

I would have thought Bach would be better preparation for maths exams with all that rising and falling, repetition and symmetry whereas jazz is more attuned to chaos theory.

That (sic) trad jazz that the Fast Show took the piss out of (brilliantly)

May I offer that Sir has been sadly misinformed?

If not, then here's some classic rock 😉

Moondance by Van Morrison stick that on your deck

I love jazz, but only when I'm paralytic drunk/stoned. Sober, it sucks.

Jazz, let's face it, it's just insolent noise...

Depends, jazz is a broad genre.

Yes to John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Gill Scott Heron, Van Morrison, Herbie Hancock etc.

No to stripy blazer wearing quartets.

Yes. I do, as do millions of people around the world; but hey, you stay there cocooned in your own, special little world so you don’t infect mine.

WHOOOSH! Missing the point of that post completely.

May I offer that Sir has been sadly misinformed

Not misinformed, guessed, and incorrect (if thats what youre saying) due to complete lack of interest (if sir is being pedantic about genre (spit) names.)

Currently on the streamer...

Just sitting on the patio with  a spot of luncheon,  looking at the mountain.

The very talented Yazz.

Some of my favs below, there's a lot of Jazz i'm not fussed with but i can come back to these tracks/albums time and time again

https://youtu.be/Frnd-wuhBic

Well, thanks to this thread, I've gone down a wormhole of pulling several of the artists above through Tidal to my HiFi, and whilst entertaining, once Van Morrison got mentioned, I quickly entered a wormhole back to my comfort zone and have just got the whisky out to listen to Simon & Garfunkel. I do like a good baritone sax, but I think I'll have to keep trying to like jazz, whatever the sub-genre.

pulling several of the artists above through Tidal to my HiFi

😉😀😎😆

[Hijack] Woppitt: you're a Naim man too aren't you? If so, have you managed to get Tidal Masters natively though a Naim receiver? Currently SPDIF-ing from my Mac, but would rather just use the built in client. [/Hijack]

WHOOOSH! Missing the point of that post completely.

Well, perhaps you'd care to explain it, then. The embedded wisdom wasn't exactly coming to the fore.

^ My oversight maybe, I was being sarcastic and forgot to put the /sarcasm on.

The new kamasi washington one is top banana

Like a bit of miles davis, even the freaky shit. Christ I even like a bit of sun ra arkestra.

I get jazz much more than some other genres. For example, I’ve never gotten Bowie despite trying.

Hello Rusty 🙂 I can only agree with the comment that it's a broad genre and that some is more accessible than others; but once you find something you like, that opens the door to the other stuff. I would also say to go and see some live because you get to see improvising when it actually happens. The free jazz wierd stuff is difficult to really get into (much of it isn't actually that good) but there's something for everyone

Albums to try; Kind of Blue by Miles Davis. The sidewinder by Lee Morgan. Head Hunters by Herbie Hancock. A go go by John Scofield. All in the funky vein but with proper solos

I get jazz much more than some other genres. For example, I’ve never gotten Bowie despite trying.

Intrigued, I looked up what genre Bowie was:  https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Bowie

Bowie covered many genres including art rock, hard rock, glam rock, alternative rock, krautrock, protopunk, post-punk, electronica, Blue-eyed soul, New Wave, Industrial, Techno, Jazz, Dance music, Funk, Disco, Experimental rock, Folk, Instrumental, Ambient and house.

This 'genre' thing is confusing the hell out of me!  Just tried this 'Classical' music thing.  Er, no thanks!  Case in point:

PS, OP - tried remembering back to my early twenties when I somehow began getting into different types of music other than my (heavy rock, punk, new wave and metal) staples - and AFAIR it was Gil Scott Heron album that first had me exploring jazz. The LP was entitled 'Pieces of a Man'.  Still love it today.

https://youtu.be/7aRNUsm****

Judging by this thread, jazz is another genre where its all about looking backwards to what’s been done long ago. I think I was the only person to actually mention anything remotely new?

Apart from kamasi washington, who I think I saw on Later and was dull as.

I love a bit of jazz. Especially Charlie Parker, Oscar Peterson and Ella Fitzgerald.

Anyone in West Yorkshire wanting a different Friday evening out should try Wakefield Jazz.

RM.

Same with rock music, does anyone really listen to those crazy cookie-monster vocals and endlessly recycled sub-Iommi riffs and doom-laden lyrics about endless armageddon and necrophilia in mythical places?

Quite partial to some Opeth when I’m in the mood, although I do prefer their more recent prog/jazz-influenced work.

Traditional Jazz leaves me cold ..however as already has been said it does work it's way into different genres ..Keith Emerson for example was primarily a jazz pianist and I loved his stuff with ELP ..

I like a bit of jazz, but most of it may be a bit safe by modern standards. Musicians I gravitate towards Are,

Chet Baker, Lester Young, Billie Holiday, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Dexter Gordon(probably my favourite), Dave Brubeck.

There is some good modern stuff that crosses over genres,

GoGo Penguin, Kamasi Washington, Too Many Zoos.

Bowie covered many genres including art......

well yes he did, and to be fair, it is not really that analogous, but I still don’t get any of it, which is the point I’m failing to make

+1 GoGo Penguin

athgray, a few more contemporary jazz artists I discovered of late:

Emancipator, Alfa Mist, Hiatus Kaiyote

- all worth a listen IMO.

Before I go, have not mentioned Afrobeat.  So here - this cover of Opposite People is THE tittz.  Even my most grumpy face lights like a sunbeam on hearing it.  Call it therapy 🌤!

Malvern Rider,

Had a quick listen to those. They will go on my playlist. I  like a bit of jazz mixed with hip hop or drum and bass.

Jazz Jousters remix some classic jazz albums with a laid back summer hip hop vibe.

Black flower

Its all shit isnt It really. Easily the most pretentious of all the music genres.

Great responses - thanks everyone!

You’re all (mostly) rather cultured, innit! 😉

Loads for me to explore here (and I will). I’ll need to save this thread to my favs.

OP

zeesaffa,

Its not necessarily cultured to like jazz. Some like whisky, some rum, some gin, some vodka, some beer, some wine. Jazz is a broad definition, and whisky is a decent analogy

Sun Ra = Laphroaig. (Acquired taste)

Miles Davis = Highland Park (Excellent allrounder)

Chet Baker = Macallan (Sweet and smooth)

There are styles to fit many, but it wont be for everyone. My jazz tastes are at what many would consider the easily accessible end. It need not be pretentious.

There are many words to describe Billie Holidays version of Strange Fruit. Pretentious isn't one of them!

How about a bit of Leo P ?

Thats good rick. I think he is the sax player from Too Many Zoos

Athgray +1

I have quite eclectic tastes but this is one of my all time favourites

Inspired by this thread and the sweet sunset went for a bit of Chick whilst the warmth faded....

Followed by early Chet Baker in Paris..

Currently on a bit of Dexter Gordon and contemplating  Coltrane and a big glass of something....

Nothing on here strikes a replay it chord with me.

Its not that its shit or  anything it just does nothing for me.

That leo P thing up there for example its great until you arent watching the video. And it get very tedious after the second minute.

Generally, I find jazz a bit hard work when I've dabbled with it before, but we know someone in a big band that plays some jazz and it's fantastic live. That said, when I heard of the sad pasding of John Miles and his (to me) unknown jazz history, I had a listen to Tamburello and it EXACTLY suited my mood at the time. Looking forward to checking out all the suggestions on here - thanks all. 🙂

i like jazz (along with lots of other types of music) not a fan of trad but there is so much variety to choose from,

i’m currently listening to some Krzysztof Komeda (Polish Radio Vol 6, but check out his best known work Astigmatic)

the thing i like about jazz is its often complex but i find that actually quite relaxing as its blocks everything else out but still engages the brain.

if you dont' like Jazz then its quite easy not to listen to it, i feel that way about modern pop and shouty rap music but car speakers and mobile phones make that harder to avoid.

☀️ up, shining tarmac, off to the green wilds.  Jazzin' all the way, naturally 😊

YEH BABY YEH

https://youtu.be/05w5ch9l6zI

I pretty much listen to nothing else other jazz these days. It’s a genre you’ve got to ease into and it take a while before your ears and brain adjust. Straight ahead is challenging but if you stick with it you’ll appreciate it more over time.

Try something more accessible first like Snarky Puppy or GoGoPenguins.

To really appreciate it you’ve got to understand what’s going on. They aren’t songs so to speak. Even what today are considered jazz standards are largely improvised  with a fixed phrase (home base) that the musicians will keep coming back to to break up improvised soloing. If you try to appreciate it for what it is rather than like you do other music based on repeated melody phrases you might enjoy it more.

Chet baker on trumpet ain't too bad

stanfree

Its all shit isnt It really. Easily the most pretentious of all the music genres.

I'm amazed it manages to survive without your support.

Two pages and no mention of Fela Kuti. I actually got in to some Jazz through listening to Gangstarr, various other hip hop bands, DJ’s and some of Guru’s solo output. Music is great.

I believe this be the Jazz the OP is referred to, and I honestly bloody loves it.

Two pages and no mention of Fela Kuti.

Back up soldier, check the cover of Opposite People featuring Seun Kuti, I linked up-page.  But yes, Fela! Especially Expensive Shit

I was going to mention Fela but not sure why I didn’t. I was supposed to go and see Seun on Friday but couldn’t make it.

I made up for it by finding a Fela and Ginger Baker live album on iTunes today.

Has Hugh Masekela been mentioned yet?

Loads of interesting leads above, thanks.

I've recently been listening to a bit of Lydian Collective, definitely at the more accessible end of the spectrum but quite a talented bunch.

Don't know what your problem is OP, a great car and you even fit two bikes in the back:

There are many words to describe Billie Holidays version of Strange Fruit.

Too true and here's a modern version which may stray a little from OP.