Adobe Stock / GeoffGoldswain
“Jazz is boring. Jazz is overrated. Jazz is washed up.”
So said Justin Moyer, deputy editor of the Morning Mix in the Sunday Outlook section of The Washington Post on August 10, 2014. To some people, maybe even a majority of Americans, jazz is boring and overrated. But puh-leeze, give me a break. Jazz is a niche music now. As is polka, barbershop, string quartets, opera, symphony orchestras—you name it.
Jazz washed up? No. It’s just not as popular as it once was, but washed up, hardly. It is like saying folk music is washed up. Puh-leeze. Indigenous music by ordinary, often untrained individuals will last as long as there are folks. Jazz in fact is part folk music, part art music (fully recognized as such since the 1980s), and part popular music (just not so much anymore).
Moyer trots out five points to make his feeble case—only two are worthy of further discussion: Jazz is being kept alive by (1) nostalgic Americans (indeed, some younger musicians, those who despair the exclusive worshipping of ’50s and ’60s jazz icons, would tend to agree), and by (2) what Moyer calls the cultural-institution complex, by which he means colleges, universities, foundations and governments (local, state and federal). And thank God for that!
But be careful, Mr. Moyer. Are opera and classical music boring, overrated, and washed up? Both receive substantially more financial support from the cultural-industrial complex than jazz and by a significant amount, some 10 to 20 times by my estimation. And talk about fetishization of the past—well, no need to dwell on that.
Jazz today is roundly considered an art music (fully recognized since the 1980s), in addition to a folk music, a well spring from which it has constantly drawn.
And, Mr. Moyer, two final questions:
Is jazz washed up in Europe, Japan, and elsewhere? Suggest you read Stuart Nicholson’s books on the subject; in fact, you are a journalist. Interview Nicholson.
And what do other musicians, not associated with jazz, think? Are they less influenced by jazz than in the past? Interview Elvis Costello, Tom Waits, John Legend, Justin Timberlake, Norah Jones, Bruce Springsteen, Prince—anybody—Taylor Swift for God’s sake.
So said Justin Moyer, deputy editor of the Morning Mix in the Sunday Outlook section of The Washington Post on August 10, 2014. To some people, maybe even a majority of Americans, jazz is boring and overrated. But puh-leeze, give me a break. Jazz is a niche music now. As is polka, barbershop, string quartets, opera, symphony orchestras—you name it.
Jazz washed up? No. It’s just not as popular as it once was, but washed up, hardly. It is like saying folk music is washed up. Puh-leeze. Indigenous music by ordinary, often untrained individuals will last as long as there are folks. Jazz in fact is part folk music, part art music (fully recognized as such since the 1980s), and part popular music (just not so much anymore).
Moyer trots out five points to make his feeble case—only two are worthy of further discussion: Jazz is being kept alive by (1) nostalgic Americans (indeed, some younger musicians, those who despair the exclusive worshipping of ’50s and ’60s jazz icons, would tend to agree), and by (2) what Moyer calls the cultural-institution complex, by which he means colleges, universities, foundations and governments (local, state and federal). And thank God for that!
But be careful, Mr. Moyer. Are opera and classical music boring, overrated, and washed up? Both receive substantially more financial support from the cultural-industrial complex than jazz and by a significant amount, some 10 to 20 times by my estimation. And talk about fetishization of the past—well, no need to dwell on that.
Jazz today is roundly considered an art music (fully recognized since the 1980s), in addition to a folk music, a well spring from which it has constantly drawn.
And, Mr. Moyer, two final questions:
Is jazz washed up in Europe, Japan, and elsewhere? Suggest you read Stuart Nicholson’s books on the subject; in fact, you are a journalist. Interview Nicholson.
And what do other musicians, not associated with jazz, think? Are they less influenced by jazz than in the past? Interview Elvis Costello, Tom Waits, John Legend, Justin Timberlake, Norah Jones, Bruce Springsteen, Prince—anybody—Taylor Swift for God’s sake.
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