NPR recently published an article titled On The Future Of Jazz Among Black Folk. If you’ve been to a jazz club lately, then the dearth of black folks in the audience should not really be news to you. There are a lot of conversations about why that is, and the first answer given is the lack of education. You’ll get no arguments from me about that. The decimation of music programs and the lack of instruments in inner city schools has really done a number to many of the communities that birthed this music.
Even without formal education, kids exposed to this music can be receptive to it. I know this from experience. The picture above is my niece at 18 months old with John Coltrane’s Sun Ship record. I didn’t actively make an effort for her to listen to jazz. It was just the music that was usually playing when she visited. In time, she took a liking to it. In the above picture, she pulled out the Coltrane LP herself. I went to put it back on the shelf, but she looked like she was about to cry when I put it back. I pulled it back out and the smile returned. I put the record on the turntable, and she sat down and listened. She acquired a taste for jazz simply by hearing it.
However, lack of exposure is not the only problem. I am glad Jimmy Heath brought up the youth, and his son Mtume mentioned the need for jazz musicians to embrace the sounds and technologies of the music of today. This is essential. If you want growth, you have to go to where the people are. It’s not the other way around.
When it comes to jazz, the one name my non jazz listening friends know is Robert Glasper. They know him because he incorporates the present into his music. Hip hop isn’t an alien art-form to him, nor is it something to deride. It is something that is incorporated into his music with spectacular success. The thing is that with the exception of brilliant musicians like Robert Glasper, the jazz press doesn’t really cover anything beyond straight ahead jazz for the most part. Brass bands are rarely discussed in the jazz press, which is ironic since jazz came out of this style of music in New Orleans.
Modern brass bands in my opinion are the future. They incorporate hip hop, funk and anything else they feel like incorporating, but it is still undeniably jazz. Except to the very vocal people who don’t like hip hop and whatever else the brass bands might throw into the pot. Their brand of jazz has no outside influences (or so they think). What they think or prefer is irrelevant, and at the risk of being flippant, the people who don’t like it don’t matter. It isn’t about them. Four decades ago, their counterparts of the time were complaining when Miles Davis incorporated electric instruments into his music with Bitches Brew. Miles understood that rock and funk music was what young people were listening to. Despite the critics, it was his band playing to an audience of thousands at the Isle of Wight Festival. We shouldn’t forget that.
Today, I see that take charge spirit in Brass Bands. Bands like Rebirth Brass Band, Hypnotic Brass Ensemble and PitchBlak Brass Band to name some. They are incorporating the present with tradition.
Their shows incorporate all the things many people in jazz are clamoring for, like young people, an energetic crowd, dancing (that’s right people actually move!) and yes, black people are well represented in these audiences. Why isn’t there more coverage for these musicians in the jazz world? If I had to speculate, I’d say the gatekeepers probably don’t think it’s “jazz” enough. Many jazz listeners think jazz should be played a certain way (i.e. like it’s 1955). Part of it might be their inherent bias against things they do not care for, which speaks more to their age and/or tastes, than the quality of the material. That’s fine, but then we shouldn’t complain when young people aren’t interested. Young blacks in particular. Rest assured, the typical 21 yr old isn’t interested in going to a jazz club to sit down for supper and listen to standards. Why don’t people get this? There is a lot of room for everyone, yet we consonantly have this narrow definition of what jazz should be. Well, don’t be surprised if you have a narrow audience to match your narrow definition.
Another point that really isn’t made is that maybe black people have moved on. The earlier points I made aside, musical styles fall in and out of favor all the time. Why should jazz be the exception? I’m not pulling a Terry Teachout and saying jazz is dead, it isn’t. I’m simply saying that perhaps we jazz lovers may be blind to the fact that our love for this music just isn’t shared by many people, and it isn’t solely due to lack of exposure and the cutting of education programs. A few years ago, I was at a blues festival, and with the exception of Buddy Guy, the only other black people I saw there were the janitors and cleaning crew. It was before my time, but was there this type of concern for the lack of black people going to blues concerts when more whites started participating and attending concerts, or was it just accepted that black people had moved on to listen to other styles of music?
Filed under: Jazz, African American, blues, hiphop, Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, Jazz, Miles Davis, PitchBlak Brass Band, Rebirth Brass Band, Robert Glasper
My love for jazz has a fairly narrow window – it seems to close at about 1961 – and I’m most familiar with the hard bop units of the mid- to late ’50s. It seems like most of those guys were brilliant, hard working musicians who KNEW music inside and out, and put a ton of work into their craft. So much of today’s popular music is less about the melody and the beauty of it, and more about the beat and the image portrayed by the performer.
Coltrane, and many of his contemporaries, could probably talk for an hour about chords and theory and the effect of using a b-flat note following an f (I’m making all that up, as I have little musical ability or knowledge) without breaking a sweat, while I think most of today’s popular performers would be mystified by mere mention of any of that.
I agree with your analysis, but I wonder if our society today – musicians and listeners (like me) alike – is just not willing to put as much work into the art form as previous generations. This is of course not limited to the black community, but to all of us. Think there’s anything to that?
Hi Sid,
Thanks for the comment. If you’re talking about popular music, then sure. With respect to image, I will concede that it may appear to be more important today, but image has always been important. People weren’t buying Julie London LPs because of her limitless vocal range as a singer. In fact, it’s quite clear that she’s a very limited singer, but she was attractive and that is what was exploited, and it worked. This has been going on far longer than we care to admit, and for some reason, we continue to act like it’s the new generation that is image driven. Linda Ronstadt is another singer that used her sex appeal and image to sell records. Look at the cover of Ronstadt’s album “Hasten Down The Wind”. That will tell you all you need to know. Many guys bought it based on the cover alone.
I know that wasn’t exactly your point, but I’ve seen this topic before about everything being image driven today, but it’s always been that way, and I don’t necessarily think it’s a bad thing per se, especially when there is substance behind the image. I know for a fact that people bought records they never heard because they thought the boys on the covers were cute in the 70s. Now, some of those boys just happened to be the Jackson Five, but they weren’t buying records because they heard them on the radio first. They also bought records by labels i.e. MoTown/Tamla, Stax etc. Image had a lot to do with that. You knew what to expect. Look at James Brown. You probably already have an image of what he’s dressed like and what his hair looks like. Now, imagine James Brown in a t-shirt, sneakers and cut off jean shorts. It’s simply not the same.
It goes beyond music. America and the Western world is largely image driven. I’ll give you an example. John Wayne. He’s the archetype of the all-American, pull no punches, tell it like it is, tough guy. People who grew up watching his films still hold him in high regard because of the masculine characters he portrayed. That became his image, and to many he is the epitome of manliness to this day, but his real name is Marion Morrison, and his image was not real (even though he pretty much adopted it later on). In reality, Marion Morrison would not have the same appeal to the people that know him only as John Wayne.
With respect to current jazz musicians, if there is one thing they can talk about, it is music theory. Believe me, that is not the problem.
Cheers,
Atane
I was stuck in the 50′s and 60′s forever even though I listened to and was mesmerized by Miles’ Bitches Brew and later Doo Bop (1992). I thought at the time that Jazz was headed in that direction but not until many years later here comes Glasper. Wow. What took so long?
I still love the standards and all the beebop guys but if you want to take this conversation further rent “Icons Amongst Us” from iTunes for 5 bucks. I recently watched it on a long flight (90 minute documentary). I was so fascinated I ran it 3 times. I hope the underlying thought is correct and that this is the direction that jazz is going. The music is fantastic. Esmeralda Spalding, Avishai Cohen, Glasper and others. If this is where we are going sign me up.
Just wondering where did you get those awesome vinyl racks? I’m looking for something better than the Ikea’s expedit. thanks
Hi Carlos,
These shelves are from Music Direct. They no longer make them unfortunately. If I knew they were going to stop, I would have bought a lot more. They weren’t cheap, but they were made in the U.S.A., and that counts for something in this day and age.
Everybody here is making interesting points, but I wanted to comment on Atane’s view of the brass bands. I think they’re exciting, and they get people moving, but they’re just one thing. Many types of jazz offer the type of excitement that can attract new audiences — Spalding and Glasper have been mentioned, but there are others, like Dave Douglas, Charlie Hunter, Vijay Iyer, and many more. The challenge is to find a promotional model, and venues to present the music. The audience is out there, I think — although it will never reach the levels of pop music, which is fine. But jazz is in a ghetto now, and just needs a little help breaking out.