Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Pianist Corner - Non Classical Why jazz?

Larisa,

I have enjoyed listening to your compositions and other video performances.

Ed

Thanks so much! <blush>

I could just as easily dismiss all of classical music because it doesn't have the rhythmic vitality so unique to jazz. By that I mean that insanely elusive quality known as "swing". Yes if I were an ignorant jazz musician I might say "That music's useless, it doesn't swing , it's SO LIMITED!"

Of course, I have haven't met any jazz musicians THAT ignorant.
But I have met classical musicians (at least THIS one time) that ARE that ignorant


One other point jazz is not a style... it's a process.

Mark Eisenman

Effin' brilliant! Consider yourself quoted, Mark

I think someones already said it, but Jazz has definetely not had as long to develop as classical music. Plus how can you say someones music like Bill Evans, can sound like a variation on Fats Waller or Art Tatum, maybe to a very very superficial kind of listener, but would the same listener be able to tell the difference between Bach and Handel, or even Bachs own works?

Ps. just got Nat Adderly's Work Song album. WOW!!!

Here is a nice article in the WSJ regarding the inroads improvisation is making in the classical community.

A large part of the appeal of many of the great classical composers was their reportedly amazing ability to compose, or improvise, on-the-fly at the keyboard.

Oh, I really hope improvisation comes back for classical music. Classical improvising is so much fun.

It would be nice if classical music had not come to halt in the 20th century. Modern classical music is quite different.

All I know is that Horowitz had a great admiration for Art Tatum's ability and Glenn Gould actually made a personal call to Bill Evans, to tell Bill that he was a great admirer of Bill's works.

Jazz and Classical music requires very different sets of skills, and they are both very demanding to play well.

The problem is that sometimes people can love what they do so much that they don't take time to take a look at other things with the same kind of attention and scrutiny as what they love. W

e can say that about DJ's in scratching contest, skaters, clowns, you name it.. once you learn more about it you realize there is a craft, an art in what they do and that it takes a lot of dedication and talent to be able to do what they do.

Oh boy, here we are again... classical v jazz - the battle lines have been drawn and away we go... So here's my take on all of this... If you can listen to Bill Evans play My Foolish Heart and not be moved, or at least affected - you are probably deaf and missing something truly beautiful. Likewise, every time I hear Mozart's 40th Symphony I'm awestruck - same with Stravinsky’s Firebird or Beethoven's Pathetique - and the list goes on. All of this music makes the world a far better place. On the other hand, I can also say beyond a doubt, there are types of music I deplore - e.g. Dixieland jazz makes me want to cover my ears and run. It's just not for me. So I say, to each their own.

Check the link out and listen how both worlds Classical and Jazz can be combined together and be enjoyed by all. DPVJAZZ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tl6C8WTnnPQ

why jazz???
maybe because we can't play anything else?

Because we like it.

Jazz is a fun way to communicate with others in the universal language of music.

I don't like modern jazz... it makes me sick D:
the other day I was in a shop when for no reason I stared feeling weird, i wa snervous, anxious, my chest stated to hurt... it was really weird, and then I noticed A band was playing jazz just outside of it. I walked for more then 15m to my car and was very nervous all the time...
jazz and new age music are really not for me.

Great. Good thing there are lots of different types of music to listen to. Thanks for sharing....

So it's not just me! I've had that reaction to some things like Donna Lee. Very disorienting, like riding backwards in a bus. Not all jazz, though.

What happened to the OP? Maybe he converted and now loves jazz and is too embarrassed to admit it!

I've never heard jazz making someone physically sick! That's pretty funny (ok maybe not).

There was that experiment where retail stores would play classical music out in the front to prevent teens from loitering and causing trouble. Apparently most teens hate classical.

Jazz encompasses such a wide variety that even fans probably don't like certain styles of jazz. I don't like the old era stuff, like Dixieland or Boogie Woogie, or anything with Wynton Marsalis. Nor do I like "smooth" jazz, the watered down stuff you hear at the dentist. Or most free or avant-garde jazz, like Cecil Taylor.

But there's enough jazz that I do like to keep me satisfied.