[Dixielandjazz] Why American Don't like Jazz

[Marek Boym]

Hello,
There's something in what Mr.  Dyske Suematsu says.  However, while
until recently I've hardly listened to words, and while I prefer my
jazz purely instrumental, I cannot stand abstract painting (and am not
too crazy about Monet); I like my painting REALISTIC!
Cheers



> On 18/03/07, Steve Barbone <barbonestreet at earthlink.net> wrote:
> > This paper, by a Japanese was updated in 2006. The earlier version was on
> > the DJML several years ago.
> >
> > What Mr. Suematsu ignores (among other things) is the current popularity of
> > Rock & Roll and Duke Ellington's view circa 1962 that: " Rock n Roll is the
> > most raucous form of jazz, beyond a doubt; it maintains a link with the folk
> > origins, and I believe that no other form of jazz has ever been accepted so
> > enthusiastically by so many."
> >
> > Duke who? What did he know about American music? :-) VBG.
> >
> > Cheers,
> > Steve Barbone
> >
> > Why Americans Don't Like Jazz
> >
> > By Dyske Suematsu
> > The current market share of Jazz in America is mere 3 percent. That includes
> > all the great ones like John Coltrane and the terrible ones like Kenny G
> > (OK, this is just my own opinion). There are many organizations and
> > individuals like Wynton Marsalis who are tirelessly trying to revive the
> > genre, but it does not seem to be working. Why is this? Is there some sort
> > of bad chemistry between the American culture and Jazz? As ironic as it may
> > be, I happen to believe so.
> >
> > One day, I was talking to my wife about the TV commercial for eBay where a
> > chubby lady sings and dances to an appropriated version of ³My Way² by Frank
> > Sinatra. The lyrics were entirely re-written, and ³my way² was transformed
> > into ³eBay². I told her that they did a good job in adapting the original
> > song. Then she said: ³Ah, that¹s why I like it so much!² She actually did
> > not realize that it was adapted from Sinatra¹s song.
> >
> > My wife and I have always known how differently we listen to music. I tend
> > to entirely ignore lyrics, while she tends to entirely ignore music. We are
> > the two opposite ends of the spectrum in this sense, and it appears that my
> > wife¹s side is more common. Many of my friends think that I have a peculiar,
> > or plain bad, taste for music. Whenever I say I like this song or that song,
> > they look at me like I am crazy. Then they go on to explain why it is bad,
> > and I realize that they are referring to the lyrics, not to the music. I
> > then pay attention to the lyrics for the first time, and realize that they
> > are right. The opposite happens often too where many of my friends love a
> > particular song, and I can¹t understand what¹s good about it until I pay
> > attention to the lyrics.
> >
> > The eBay example is an extreme case where my wife could not recognize the
> > original once the lyrics were swapped. To her, if you change the lyrics, it
> > is an entirely different song. It is the other way around for me; in most
> > cases, I would not notice any change in the lyrics. The eBay song was an
> > exception; I only noticed it because it is a famous song used for a TV
> > commercial.
> >
> > I believe my wife¹s way of listening to music is typically American, and my
> > way of listening to music, typically Japanese. If you don¹t speak English,
> > any songs written in English are instrumental music. Singers turn into just
> > another musical instrument. These days, no matter where you live, you cannot
> > get away from the dominance of the American music. This means that most
> > non-English speakers grow up listening to a lot of instrumental music. In
> > Japan, I would say, it constitutes about half of what people listen to. When
> > they are listening to Madonna, Michael Jackson, or Britney Spears, they have
> > very little understanding of what their songs are about. In this sense,
> > their ears are trained to listen to and enjoy instrumental music, which
> > explains why Jazz is still so popular in Japan.
> >
> > To be able to enjoy instrumental music, you must be able to appreciate
> > abstract art, and that requires a certain amount of effort. Just mindlessly
> > drinking wine, for instance, would not make you a wine connoisseur.
> > Mindlessly looking at colors (which we all do every day) would not make you
> > a color expert either. Great art demands much more from the audience than
> > the popular art does.
> >
> > In this sense, the American ears are getting lazier and lazier. It wasn¹t so
> > long ago that most people knew how to play a musical instrument or two. Now
> > the vast majority of Americans couldn¹t tell the difference between a
> > saxophone and a trumpet. Thanks partially to music videos, music is now a
> > form of visual art. The American culture is so visually dominant that a
> > piece of music without visuals cannot command full attention of the
> > audience. For Americans, music is a background element, a mere side dish to
> > be served with the main course. If they are forced to listen to a piece of
> > instrumental music without any visuals, they don¹t know what to do with
> > their eyes, much like the way a nervous speaker standing in front of a large
> > audience struggles to figure out what to do with his hands. Eventually
> > something visual that has nothing to do with the music grabs their attention
> > and the music is push to the background.
> >
> > If you have written your own music, you have probably experienced this
> > before: You play it for your friends to get their opinions. For about 10
> > seconds, everyone is silent. After 20 seconds, their eyes start to wander
> > around. After 30 seconds, someone says something, which triggers everyone
> > else to speak up. After 40 seconds, no one is actually listening to your
> > music. I grew up sitting in front of the stereo with my father, closing our
> > eyes, listening only to what came out of the speakers. This would go on for
> > an hour or two as if we were watching a movie. It wasn¹t just me; many of my
> > friends did the same. Who does that anymore? In today¹s living rooms,
> > stereos are treated as accessories to television sets.
> >
> > Visual dominancy isn¹t the only problem. The bigger problem is the dominance
> > of our thought. Most Americans do not know what to do with abstraction in
> > general. To be able to fully appreciate abstraction, you must be able to
> > turn off your thought, or at least be able to put your thought into the
> > background. This is not as easy as it might seem. In modern art museums,
> > most people¹s minds are dominated by thoughts like: ³Even I could do this.²
> > Or, ³Why is this in a museum?² Or, ³This looks like my bed sheet.² Etc..
> > They are unable to let the abstraction affect their emotions directly; their
> > experience must be filtered through interpretations. In a way, this is a
> > defense mechanism. It is a way to deal with fears like, ³If I admit that I
> > don¹t understand this, I¹ll look unsophisticated.² This type of fear fills
> > their minds with noise, and they become unable to see, hear, or taste.
> >
> > This is why songs with lyrics in your own language and paintings with
> > recognizable objects are easier for most people to appreciate. They give
> > their minds something to do. It is like holding a pen in your hand when you
> > are speaking in front of a large audience; you become less nervous because
> > your hands have something to do.
> >
> > Aesthetically, the paintings of Mark Rothko and those of Monet are quite
> > similar, but the former is utterly unacceptable for many people even though
> > they consider the latter to be a master. The difference is that in Monet¹s
> > paintings, you can still see things represented in them: rivers, trees,
> > mountains, houses, and so forth. The audience interprets these objects, and
> > projects their own beautiful memories onto the paintings, which makes the
> > whole process much easier. In Mark Rothko¹s paintings, there is nothing they
> > can mentally grab on to. What you see is what you get; there is nothing to
> > interpret. So, the audience is left without a pen to hold on to.
> >
> > The same happens to instrumental music. If there are no lyrics, that is, if
> > there is nothing for the minds to interpret, projecting of any emotional
> > values becomes rather difficult. As soon as the lyrics speak of love, sex,
> > racism, evil corporations, loneliness, cops, etc., all sorts of emotions
> > swell up. Jazz to most people is like a color on a wall; unless you hung
> > something on it, they don¹t even notice it.
> >
> > This rather unfortunate trend in the American culture seems to be
> > irreversible. The popularity of Rap music seems to be a clear sign of this
> > trend. I can appreciate Rap music for what it is, and I see nothing wrong
> > with it, but it does not promote the full development of musical ears. If
> > the song has any musical substance, it can be played on a piano alone
> > (without a singer or any other instruments), and we would still enjoy it.
> > The lack of musical substance becomes clearly visible if you would take many
> > of today¹s popular songs, and play them on a piano alone. Many of them would
> > utilize hardly more than a few keys. Perhaps this trend would promote the
> > appreciation of poetry, but it certainly would not promote the appreciation
> > of music as an abstract form of art.
> >
> > If we were to reverse this trend, we would need to make a conscious effort
> > in promoting the abstract aspect of music. For instance, play more
> > instrumental music in schools or teach how to play an instrument instead of
> > how to sing. We could go as far as to teach kids in school instrumental
> > music only, because their musical exposure outside of school would be
> > dominated by non-instrumental music anyway. It would be a good way to
> > balance things out.
> >
> > This problem extends far beyond the American disinterest for Jazz; it is a
> > problem for music in general. The dominance of words and visuals in the
> > American culture has lead people to believe that listening to Rap or
> > watching music videos is the full extent of what music has to offer. If this
> > goes on, they¹ll be missing a huge chunk of what life has to offer.
> >
> >
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