Tag Archives: NPR

‘It Can’t Be Done’: The Difficulty Of Growing A Jazz Audience : A Blog Supreme : NPR

‘It Can’t Be Done’: The Difficulty Of Growing A Jazz Audience : A Blog Supreme : NPR:

“Well, if education isn’t the answer, what’s the solution? How do we develop and maintain a strong jazz audience?”

Audience development is a complicated issue, and it’s not limited to jazz. Every artist and arts organization is trying to answer the same question. We’ve identified a problem and we’re going to “build” something to solve it. Sounds so simple, doesn’t it?”

(Via www.npr.org)

Excellent article. I wonder though if it is really a problem Jazz faces in the United States more. In Japan and I believe in Europe, Jazz music gets as much attention as Pop music. Heck, they even have huge public performances of the music of Final Fantasy! Yoko Kanno and T-Square concerts sell out. 

If Danny Elfman did a concert tour in the USA……..would anyone attend? Probably very very few. A Katy Perry or Justin Bieber concert though……sells out in hours. It’s a sad state of affairs here…..

Occupy……Jazz?

Noted trumpeter Nicholas Payton wrote a great blog entry title “On Why Jazz Isn’t Cool Anymore…” which is brilliant. Bravo sir. It has sparked debate on Reddit, NPR, MetaFilter and the circle jerk…I mean SaxOnTheWeb site. Probably the best response has been by trumpeter Ian Carey titled How Not To Become A Bitter White Jazz Musician.

While a lot of these other sites have gone off on positive or negative tangents about this, the essence of what Mr. Payton says is true. Jazz has been usurped after its death in 1959. The music has moved on.  It has evolved. Grouping the “Jazz” today would sort of be like grouping Mozart and John Adams together under the label of Classical Music. Wait…..they do still do that. What the…..

I personally don’t care what it is called. In fact, I HATE labeling music that is in my iTunes library. I have soundtracks, broadway musicals, jazz, smooth jazz, jazz and funk, funk, rock, classic rock, classical, choir music, NuJazz, Ska, New Orleans, Big Band…….I could be here all day listing them. Why can’t we just call it music and not worry about if it is Jazz, Rock, Classical or whatever?

Yeah……I don’t think it’s ever going to happen either……..we are screwed.

Talking Jazz

I came across this website:

New from musician, author, journalist Ben Sidran, Talking Jazz includes an eighty page booklet with essays from writers, critics and musicians, classic photos from Lee Tanner, and 24 compact discs featuring conversations with 60 jazz greats, recorded during a five year period for Sidran’s award winning NPR program “Sidran On Record”.

I’m wondering if anyone heard this collection, or perhaps the original NPR broadcasts. Any good?