Jazz Today - Mortally Wounded? pt.1

The expression "jazz is dead" is thrown around a lot these days, a sentiment I happen to agree with, but how did a music once such a vibrant and living part of american culture lose its relevance, its artistry, and thus, its life?

As with all problems, the blame does not rest with one individual or one institution, but rather a combination of factors contributing to the deterioration of the whole. Let's begin with the institutionalization in universities, a factor most frequently blamed for the demise of jazz. One would think that the liberalizing environment of a college campus would help invigorate jazz, but in fact the opposite is true - jazz has been stifled. The problem is that universities have developed a standard jazz curriculum that all students must follow, while the music itself defies standardization! It must be remembered that jazz is art, and as such cannot simply be broken down in terms of mere mechanics - technique is only a means to an end. Creating something beautiful, personal, and expressive should be the ultimate goal, not executing a perfect major scale at lightening speed.

The way jazz is being taught, en-mass, is also a problem. Jazz has traditionally been "taught" in a more personal, apprentice-ship type of program, where a student comes under the tutelage of a master (who's style the student admires) who passes on his personal knowledge and musical colloquialisms. Over years of study and practice, the student absorbs the master's approach intuitively and is encouraged to inject and develop his own style accordingly. This is why you can trace the styles of say, Clifford Brown, through Lee Morgan, onto Freddie Hubbard, but they don't sound exactly alike. Students at universities today are told to read books and charts, practice scales and written exercises, many of which have little to do with what the student is interested in, while spending perhaps as little as one hour a week with their teacher. As a result, many students sound like they are reciting exercises, lacking any traces of creativity or a personal/regional style.