Are there any jazz artists right now that are trying to break the mold and reach pop and rap loving teens?

Question

I'm a teen and I absolutely LOVE jazz but one of the only artists that my friends would like cuz it sounds more like pop is Mindi Abair. Are there anymore out there trying to reach the future generation??

(I'm an alto sax player so if you know any sax players that fit this that'd be great) :]

Answer 1

Are you kidding!!!

There are some really amazing jazz artists out there, and I think you need to figure out what you like, and if you are making suggestions to your friends, to take some of what you have listened to and pass it on. John Scoffield, Zero 7, RJD2, Thicke, Cassandra Wilson, and other amazing artists are some of the more popular laid back and popular jazz artists that not everyone has heard of but will definitely rock your socks off.

Go to www.download.com and download some of the free, legal jazz MP3s from emerging artists. Click to 'MP3s' and 'Jazz'. I would be willing to bet that there are genres that you have never even heard! You won't regret it!

Also ilike.com offers suggestions when you enter your favorites.

Answer 2

This is a real good album that sounds like what your looking for
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:29nyxd7bool0

PS- The future generation has been suckered into infintile, egotistical music by MTV. If you look at music history, you will find that in 1981, even the good bands started to loose it. By the mid 80's, almost every band was trying to "make it big" by playing into the selling formula of what a popular video should be. Creative music wasn't popular anymore.

MTV was 100 times more exposure for a band than radio. MTV monopolizes the music industry and they decide whats going to be big. So now, kids WATCH music instead of listen to it.

Video really did kill the radio star. $MTV$

Go tell you other friends what I've said here and watch them go "goo-goo, ga-ga", OR wake up to this reality. If it wakes them up, then they might be ready for the expressive, masterful music of jazz.

Here is a great album (in my opinion) that I suggest for you...
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:vx1m96bokepo
Enjoy.

Answer 3

I REALLY HOPE SO! I'm so sick of the younger generation being so closed-minded with music. It's all rap and hip-hop and other kinds of pop. It's really getting old....fast. Kudos to you for getting into jazz. I'm not much of a jazz fan, but I absolutely love Jamie Cullum.

Answer 4

try christian mcbride. his newest album, "live at tonic" is a 3-cd set, and has several guests artists including Scratch from The Roots and members of Soullive. btw, he is a bassist, but his saxophonist, Ron Blake, is great.

Answer 5

You have taste ;)