My sense of this board, is that very few people here listen to Jazz. I've seen a few people refer to Jazz, Dr. Smooth a few others... and in most of the music threads its mainly about bands and i still iconic groups for 30-40 years ago with a lot of mention like Zep and Stones and Floyd.

Jazz of course is a very big term covering many eras. I'm not talking about Dixie Land and Ragtime so much, and I'm definitely NOT talking about Kenny G, and 'smooth jazz'.

I'm talking rooted in the continuum from Duke Ellington, Jimmy Lunceford, Chick Webb, Cab Calloway, Count Basie -- and from Bessie Smith, Fats Waller -- etc... through the Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young, Billie Holiday -- and up through Be-Bop with Diz and Bird, to Newk and Clifford and then to Miles, Trane on onward.

I listen to WRTI (Philly Jazz station) when I'm in the car about 20% of the time. Otherwise, I don't listen to much other than the occasional Miles Davis or Coltrane. I find that I listen to more jazz while school is in session and especially while writing papers. As I'm not in school right now, I haven't been listening nearly as much.

I got no kick against modern jazz unless they try to play it too darn fast.

Seriously, I love jazz live, and almost never listen to it recorded. Virtually all the jazz cds I have , and it's probably not more than half a dozen, are because I liked a live show and wanted to have music to remind me of it.

The freer the better; the more out the better

My appreciation of modal jazz is also quite high

Most definitely - I'm a musician & attended Univ of Arts in Philly as a jazz major. In my younger years, I listened to everything & anything but lately more & more find myself leaning towards hard bop - Clifford/Max especially...still enjoy some bigger ensemble stuff (Kenton for the arranging brilliance, Thad Jones/Mel Lewis, Duke, and still have a warm spot in my heart for some of Maynard's 60's & 70's bands.

For vocals I'll go with Ella, Diana Krall, Carmen McCrae, Sinatra...and always and forever - the Nat King Cole Trio.

My roommate is really into jazz and I always enjoy the albums he puts on, Coltrane and Mingus especially, but when I look for one to put on, I usually reach for something else, and although I would love to have a pretty collection of jazz cds, I don't buy jazz albums just because I know they won't get as much play as something else. So I guess I like jazz, but not all that much.

For a few years now, some friends and I have been joking that smooth jazz would be the new cool thing to like, but it still hasn't come to pass.

I don't know shit about jazz or its history or whatever, but I have 77 Miles Davis albums on my hard drive and I love having them on as background music while I'm doing something else. Great stuff.

Yes.

I love avant garde jazz.

A lot.

William Parker is awesome.

So is David Murray.

i never really think to put jazz on. i don't really have a good idea of what belongs in the canon of great jazz albums outside of a handful of Miles Davis ones and John Coltrane's Giant Steps. i put on the Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown soundtrack all throughout the year when i get the itch.

but i probably listen to Kind of Blue about once a month. that's the only jazz album i listen to on a semi-regular basis.

Played piano in jazz band and developed an appreciation -- I enjoy Charles Mingus, Monk, of course Miles and lots of other stuff. By no means am I an expert, but I have a pretty big collection on the ipod.

The biggest problem I have is deciding what to put on my Ipod. I still only have a 60 gig. Of late, I've been listening to lots of Joey Baron. He's definitely one of my favorite drummers ever. Try these on for size.

Down Home

^^ with Arthur Blythe, Ron Carter and Bill Frisell

We'll Soon Find Out

^^ Same lineup

Yes, but mostly guitar stuff. Gabor Szabo is probably my favorite, early George Benson, Pat Martino, Kenny Burrell, Wes Montgomery, Grant Green, John Scofield, some John McLaughlin stuff. Never much got into Joe Pass for some reason, but possibly will later on.

Also a huge fan of Dave Brubeck and Stan Getz and other stuff with that Bossa Nova feel. I like piano jazz, but couldn't really name you anyone in particular.

I like a lot of Miles Davis stuff. But, as much as I've tried to like Coltrane, much of it I just can't listen to. There are exceptions, like My Favorite Things and most of the Africa Brass album and a few live performances here and there. But things like A Love Supreme I can do without. I know it's sacrilege to say you don't really like Coltrane, and that album specifically, but oh well.

Singers don't do much for me. Although believe it or not, when she was sober and not a complete wreck I've heard Amy Winehouse do some fantastic jazz singing.

While I can't listen to smooth jazz all the time, every once in a while it's fine and think it's one of those things everybody just feels the need need to hate on. I think it's the image that gives it a bad name more than the music.

Ever listen to Kurt Rosenwinkel or Marc Ribot? Frisell?

You sent me the one John Zorn album with Ribot on it. I liked that. I've heard of Frisell, but not sure if I've actually heard anything by him. Haven't heard of Rosenwinkel. I'll have to check them out.

Slowhand wrote:You sent me the one John Zorn album with Ribot on it. I liked that. I've heard of Frisell, but not sure if I've actually heard anything by him. Haven't heard of Rosenwinkel. I'll have to check them out.

Frisell is probably my favorite guitarist ever. His sense of melody and tone are outstanding, and he doesn't fall into the trap of playing excessive amounts of notes. You can find him playing lots of different stuff. He played more aggressive type stuff with Naked City, his more recent albums are standard electric stuff, and then albums like Nashville he's playing acoustic.

Like it fine, but don't keep up enough with more recent jazz/avant gard stuff (Polar Bear and Cinematic Orchestra would be the only exception, and I think it's a stretch to call the latter jazz, but anyhow).

My jazz collection is pretty much the regulars: Duke, Davis, Coltrane (I think one of my favourite tracks of all time is Mr. Day offa Coltrane Plays the Blues), bit of Roach and Mingus (big fan of Money Jungle), Bill Evans, Tyner McCoy, Horace Silver. Should get more Sonny Rollins, Art Blakey, Monk and Bud Powell. I'll get there some day.

When I was a kid, two of my favourite albums were Take 5 and John Lewis' European Windows. My philly grandad was a huge jazz fan, and his bro', my great uncle, is still playing dixeland cornet live at some improbable age.

Not really a fan. I enjoy it in small doses but listening to a jazz album or concert I'll usually get bored.

This is despite my father being a big jazz fan and my brother being an amateur saxophonist who plays a lot of jazz.

So for those less interested in Jazz, or who don't care for it much - or anyone who isn't passionate about it really -- would you say that there is an analogy between Jazz and Classical? Not stylistically but that the music is too technical, or intellectual, or high-brow-artsy -- and that isn't how you experience or enjoy or like to interact with music? Maybe you aren't as in to acoustic instruments for example?

Most musics, including Jazz and Classical, had their roots in church and folk. The musics often connected to dance and ritual. If you go back far enough in Europe to troubadors and minnesingers traveling guys with a "guitar" so to speak. The monks were the only ones educated enough to write. Eventually there was a class of people that were educated and the art form elevated away from the common folk and simple songs and dances. Same in Jazz. Early Jazz grew partly out of hymns and church of folk, then as it grew it was a dance/celebration art form. When bebop evolved in the 40's it was moving away from that and in to a more technical and advancing evolving development that was not about dance and took more concentration. Blues, R&B, Boogie Woogie and eventually Rock all are split-offs from the core root that were more popular and accessible and related to dance.

If you look at most popular musics from Punk to HipHop some kind of dance is involved. Hip Hop filled the gap or became the new 'music of the peeps in the hood' as Jazz had been in the 30's let's say when people would go to the Apollo or Cotton Club to see Chick Webb duel Count Basie.

So I think for some people, Jazz doesn't appeal to them because it doesn't relate to how they experience music in their life. It's not a genre or style that is relevant to them. It might work in certain contexts part of a movie soundtrack or some cultural thing that isn't their norm.

Some people just like 'sound' and are drawn in by the sounds and don't need to identify culturally with a musical type.

Anyway -- I'm impressed how many people are fairly knowledgable about Jazz. How many have seen the Ken Burns series, and did that help you in any way feel like you understood more about Jazz?