Why is Jazz music so polarizing?

[Dembadon]

If you're looking for something more contemporary, I suggest checking out Marcus Miller. He is an extremely talented bass player and has some good jazz pieces, in my opinion. I have a few of his albums. He's a bit too "funky" for some people, but it's interesting enough to keep me listening while being fun.

This is one of my favorites by him:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsIXwNGE4LA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXYjo5-UaTY

 

[ThomasT]

If you're looking for something more contemporary, I suggest checking out Marcus Miller. He is an extremely talented bass player and has some good jazz pieces, in my opinion. I have a few of his albums. He's a bit too "funky" for some people, but it's interesting enough to keep me listening while being fun.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXYjo5-UaTY

He's not too funky for me. That slap bass jazz fusion stuff is some of my favorite.

Back in the day when mp3.com was hosting independent stuff for free there were a lot of "internet collaborations". Here's one of them by a group called Luxus with Marcus Miller on bass. Carl Eichman is playing the funky guitar stuff.

After laying down the bass, guitar, and percussion tracks they sent out requests to some people to add some overlays. I did some keyboard stuff to it (which I thought was pretty cool, but it did sort of change the 'flavor' of the tune in a direction that I guess they didn't want to go). They opted for what's offered here (as well as at least one other slightly different version ... all with Miller on bass, afaik):
http://www.soundclick.com/player/single_player.cfm?songid=759699&q=hi&newref=1

 

[kraphysics]

is this jazz music? I actually like this song

 

[ThomasT]

is this jazz music? I actually like this song

Yeah, I'd call it smooth jazz. One of my favorite music genres.

 

[jsgruszynski]

To answer the origional question of why some people just can't seem to get into Jazz is that it lacks, upon initial observation, repetitive patterns. Pop music is so popular because a human brain actually enjoys being able to predict the next step in a sequence. This is not as easily done with Jazz. The sheer complexity of the music itself and how much is left unwritten so that the artist gets to improvize large portions of each piece in my opinion requires a musical maturity the does not seem to be all that common among people who either didn't grow up with Jazz or have no musical training.


These are simply my opinions. Being a Jazz drummer who was lucky enough to spend some time in the 90's studying with Carl Mattola and Joe Morello, I had the privelidge of being introduced to the logic in the musical and rythmic complexities of Jazz. It also probably helped that my father was a jazz musician.




The link is just a more modern example of some of the big band that you may enjoy.

I say if your really interrested in learning about it start with Dave Brubeck, maybe throw in a bit of Art Blakey, and even some of the big band swing that is a bit more structured.

It's this complexity and novelty that I like about Jazz (and many forms of European classical and non-European musics - e.g. Indian raga).

The way I see it you have an algorithmic information continuum called music. Different forms of music have different algorithmic information (different Kolmogorov complexity). Jazz has high Kolmogorov complexity while more mainstream pop music such as rock tends to have very low Kolmogorov complexity.

This also gets into the transition between stability and chaos. You go through a parametric shift starting with bifurcations (which is analogous to simple power-of-2 progressions of rhythm) into purely chaotic (which in the extreme is atonal music - perfectly equal tonal probabilities in the limit with noise), with a transition of semi-chaotic in between. Jazz is basically on the cusp between the two which is very interesting: enough information to be comprehended but not so much pure information (white noise, in a strict information theoretic sense) to be overwhelming.

For me I'm a bit more of a novelty seeker so the complexity and its challenge are more interesting to me and I don't get bored with it like I do with lower complexity music.

That said there is a place for "trance"-like music as well which tends to have pretty low complexity, which I also like under certain occasions.

 

[dodo]

Marty McFly's father in an alternate timeline. (Not to be confused with a saxophonist Bill Evans.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytwtenomsCM

And an amazing pair of two ones:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VdACbRfrSI

 

[rcgldr]

Some here might like these smooth jazz songs:

Steps Ahead - Safari (unusual usage of synthesized flute sound for background):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEs4CDLRHD8

Chris Botti - Regroovable
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIA1-8RWfVM

Norman Brown - That's The Way Love Goes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQElCOUqz84

Jimmy Sommers - Lowdown
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fISjQ0M6NpQ

 

[SMOF]

I love jazz ...for me, Bitches Brew (Davis) and A Love Supreme (Coltrane) are works of art.

Besides that, I really like No Room For Squares by Hank Mobley


Anything by Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers


And I am really into Ornette Coleman


I know a lot of people go on about the technical aspects of jazz ...But I just like to go into my room, turn the lights out and let it play.

Seán

 

[Dr Lots-o'watts]

I like Pink Panther's theme and Charlie Brown's theme. Besides that, I have lately found that listening to jazz is a great way to go to sleep. I'm not sure if it's a complement to the musicians, but wow, can it ever be relaxing.

 

[pergradus]

You're not alone. I find most Jazz I've heard to be either incoherent or incredibly dull.