jazz popular again?

Question

if trends really come in cycles is jazz ever going to be super popular again?

Answer 1

no. it has to evolve. it celebrates the masters so much that the new players aren't celebrated. That's kindof like how classical will continue to have a following but no new practitioners. I mean who can complete with the leegend of Beethoven and Bach? Just as with jazz, who can compete with Parker, Miles Davis, Coltrane, Dizzy etc. (or so the "afficionados" think).

I love all kinds of music but frankly the old bebop stuff, while I appreciate its complexity, doesnt speak to me. Jazz fusion was headed somewhere with Bob James and Weather Report and Al Jarreau and Jean-Luc Ponty et al but it seemed like they were treated as upstarts.

Jazz lovers have opted to freeze the music in time. Soon it will officially be a dead genre that only the old people listen to and we learn about because we're told is the best of the best but we really dont "get" the music. Kinda like classical.

Answer 2

I don't know if you could say that jazz has been "super popular," at least since the birth of rock & roll, but I do believe that jazz will continue to both survive and thrive, so long as music listeners keep their ears and minds open to new ideas. Personally, I didn't really begin getting into jazz until I was in my late twenties, but I now regularly listen to Bill Evans, Miles Davis and Thelonious Monk. I also check out new artists from time to time in order to keep my musical options open.

That said - I think that "smooth jazz" did more harm than good in terms of jazz's appearance to people. In the early '80s, if you said "jazz," people would probably respond with the artists like I did above. But the oversaturation of the market with watered-down jazz (not to be confused with actual "new age" music, which is quite enjoyable), I believe, made people think that *this* was jazz. A shame, since artists like Wynton Marsalis and Ron Carter have been keeping the jazz tradition alive for modern listeners.

Answer 3

Jazz has been reasonably popular for decades, but "Super popular", I think not. The Jazz genre has been broken down into sub-genres, much like Rock split into Grunge, Metal, Hair, Top 40, Beat, etc.

While I'm not too fond of what some may refer to as "Real Jazz" (the improvisional atmospheric ramblings of premiere musicians ricocheting off of each other's riffs, with an obscure melody line), I do like a number artists of what may be classified under Fusion Jazz, Funk Jazz, or New Age Jazz.

Answer 4

When was it ever super popular? To me it always has a cult following. Its never in recent decades been the dominant popular music. I love jazz, almost all forms (except dixieland and most big band) .
The trend lately is smooth jazz which is kind of boring. The last big trend was fusion in the 70s. I loved fusion. Fusion is what opened the door for me. It led me to Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, etc.

Answer 5

Jazz will have a steady group of followers. It is not a fad and will be here forever.

Answer 6

uhhh...."?"....
I like jazz...its seems to be in most songs today with pop N ****...
it could become super popular again
oO