by Minim
I'm note even sure how I found this little gem, but whilst looking for something else entirely I came across this critique of jazz music and musicians. I've linked to it so you can see it's genuine, but here is the text from the page.
When I'm around people and they start talking about their love of Jazz, I feel inferior.
I feel inferior because often, the people talking about Jazz in such glowing terms, are intelligent and invariably posses some musical ability - both qualities that I don't have.
I appreciate that Jazz has been such a strong driver of so many other musical forms and I know that many great contemorary performers and songwriters cite Jazz as one of their prime influencers. But listening to people talking about it is a bit like listening to geeks talking about technology. It just isn't user friendly.
I hate Jazz because it ain't rock 'n roll. It just sounds like discordant noise and Jazz just says nothing to me about my life. Basically it sounds like shit ......if shit made a sound.
But what I hate most about Jazz is the whole live performance thing. Whenever I've been unfortunate enough to be somewhere where Jazz musicians are playing ......all I see is a bunch of individuals playing their instruments for themselves. There is no audience for these people - they just seem to act like they couldn't care less. Bascially they just look as if they are playing for their own entertainment ...feeding off each others musical abilities.
Whenever I see Jazz musicians performing live, what I really see is a bunch of blokes on stage, all sucking each others cocks.
In fact I reckon this is where the word 'cocksucker' originated.
I suppose that as a jazz musician I should be taking exception to this and you might imagine that I have posted this criticism here so I can refute it and explain why the guy who wrote is narrow-minded, ignorant and wrong.
The only problem is that I don't take exception to it and I think it's probably the best explanation of the negative opinion that many people have about jazz that I have ever read. I'm not saying that I agree with it, but what is true for me may not be true for everyone. I came across a great phrase the other day that sums this up:
There is no such thing as 'how it is' – only how it is for you
It could be very easy to feel offended on behalf of the music that we're deeply involved in and to allow ourselves to become defensive when we come across criticism such as this. However, if we can take a step back from the emotions that it can arouse, we may just learn something.
Despite the fact that the language gets a bit offensive, the author of the criticism did give specific reasons why he hates jazz. They are:
· When he has seen jazz musicians perform, he gets the impression they don't care about the audience and are only interested in pleasing themselves.
· He doesn't see or hear anything in the jazz he has heard that he can personally or emotionally relate to.
· He thinks jazz is fundamentally discordant music.
· He feels intimidated by people who like jazz and by the way they talk about the music.
It would be very easy to sit and start typing reasons why these reasons are invalid or why the assumptions that they are based on are wrong. However, there is an inspirational classical conductor and speaker called Ben Zander who would encourage us to ask an intriguing question that may allow us come to a more considered position on this type of criticism.
Ben believes passionately that classical music is a vital, vibrant force that if it is presented in the right way has something to say to everyone. What I admire most about him is that he doesn't think that presenting the music in the right way means dumbing it down or making it more 'accessible'. He regularly gets schoolchildren listening to Mahler symphonies and trusts that they possess the ability to understand and enjoy the music with only a little direction and explanation.
When Ben comes across an orchestra who don't seem to share his musical vision, an audience that doesn't seem to be fully engaged or people who say they don't like classical music, instead of pointing out what's wrong with them, he asks himself a question that perhaps we could ask when we come across those who feel the same about jazz as our commenter above:
Who are we being and what are we doing to cause people to feel this way about our music?
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