As to the popularity of jazz or lack thereof... I think it is as simple as the musical ignorance of the general populace. Most have never had
any musical education at all. Certainly not beyond grade school bell ringing and early singalong stuff. Chord progressions are as meaningful as a paragraph in ancient Greek. It's not entirely their fault, they've simply never been exposed to music at that level. All they know is what they've heard on radio & TV (and nowadays the interweb). Much of jazz, as it seems "Jazz" is considered in here (bop/hard bop/west coast/east coast),
requires pretty good knowledge of chords/chord progressions to follow/appreciate. John Q. Public expects music to be dominated by a melody. Much of "Jazz" seems to pay brief tribute to the original melody, or bypass it altogether, then get on with high velocity improvisation. In many of these, even
I question why a particular piece carries a certain title when it bears no melodic resemblance. :dontknow:
That's largely what tends to put me off players considered the giants of jazz. You see, even though I had a lot of band in high school (4 years marching/concert + 3 years jazz) I was never taught anything about chords and/or chord progressions. Suited me at the time... I can only play one note at a time, why should I care about
chords. Wish I had known better back then.
I believe that is what makes "Smooth Jazz" more commercially successful, more melodically based music feels better in an untrained ear. Not many people want to have to
concentrate on music they listen to. If you are analyzing music as you listen, it seems like
work, and thereby not enjoyable or relaxing. If you don't have the background/training to be able to analyze music (particularly on the fly as opposed to on paper) then Jazz simply sounds like a whole lot of notes squoze into a small space.
I'm beginning to give it another try, dragging out some Coltrane & Parker CDs I have and just listen to them several times to see what I can glean. Didn't get much before, beyond a cascade of notes running up and down and all around. If it sounds like that to me, then what must it sound like to someone who was
NOT in any music program in at least high school?
Further evidence of the problem of lack of musical education... the continued popularity of Rap, or R&A as I call it (Rhythm & Attitude). While there is no discernable melody here, there are at least lyrics... well, words anyway... for casual listeners to latch onto and remember. Are there chord progressions in Rap? Maybe something like I-iii-I-iii-I-iii-I-iii-I-iii-I-iii-I-iii-I-iii ? :dontknow: If you know some, try humming one... now hum another... any difference? If so, maybe I just haven't heard enough of the stuff. Do I sound like every kids parent down these many generations?
Probably so, but the difference is, this time I'm right.
Anyway, that's my own take... jazz
is a more intellectual pursuit, in that the more musical background/knowledge you possess, the easier it is to understand and appreciate. Combine that with, the fact that the vast majority out there have zero training and want their music to simply feel good in their ear and be enjoyable
without having to
think about it, and you can see where Jazz has run off the rails as far as the great musically unwashed are concerned.
As to my own tastes, I have a largish LP collection of Classical, along with Rock/Pop from Springsteen to the Eagles & Chicago, Blood Sweat & Tears, Stray Cats, Billy Joel, Bob Seger, Pink Floyd, Chet Atkins, on into Koz, Boney James, Lington, Getz, Wyton & Bradford, Connick Jr., Si Zentner, Stan Kenton, Maynard Ferguson, and the aforementioned Coltrane & Parker. Probably several other bases I've left out, even a tiny sampling of Country. I like pretty much all of it, but I'm going to have to work on the Coltrane/Parker end of the spectrum.