[Dixielandjazz] What happened to Jazz?

[tcashwigg at aol.com]

By the mid 1950s, rock and roll, had evolved from black rhythm and 
blues,
with strong beats and sometimes risqué lyrics. The black audience had
neither been enamoured of 1930s style Dixieland, nor Bop. R & B written 
by
blacks for blacks, also appealed to white teenagers, for whom listening 
to
it over black-oriented radio stations late at night became a cult like
event. Aware of this emerging market, white performers and arrangers 
began
to "cover "R & B songs, toning down the beat and cleaning up the lyrics.
E.G. "Ain't That a Shame," (1955) a rock hit by, "Fats" Domino, became 
an
even bigger hit with a ballad-like cover by Pat Boone. This genre made 
some
jazz players, e.g. Louis Prima, into major stars.

**In my opinion, this was more a Censorship issue forced upon the 
public by the FCC and the powers that ran the media and Major record 
labels and radio programming,  They had to Pacify the Preachers who 
were Praying down Hell Fire and Brimstone upon the players and 
listeners who were trying to poison the minds of their and our parents 
beloved teens and turn us all into moral less savages.   For crying out 
loud the girls were wearing Slacks and short shorts and cutting their 
hair.


Then, along came Elvis, a charismatic white man who could sing with the 
high
energy appeal of a black man, generating an enormous following among the
white audience.

**Which by the way Ed Sullivan had real issues with in his musical 
presentations if you recall.


 Soon to be followed by The Beatles, the UK's most famous
musical export. No way was Jazz in any form going to be able to compete 
with
that, unless merged into it like Miles' electric funk or fusion efforts.



> There are still dozens of jazz (OKOM) bands  playing in the UK , more 
per
> square mile than in the States I suspect, but it is mainly club gigs 
and
> festivals.  Festivals are well attended but few youngsters appear.

**Again a matter of marketing to them folks, they are constantly 
searching for something new,
 and this is definitely New to most of them.

Agree that bop split the "jazz" ranks etc., and that all sorts of
innovation, experimentation occurred to take "jazz" into different
directions. But the predominant jazz form today seems to be "smooth 
jazz"
here in the USA. Yeah, I know folks, some of us don't consider that as
"real" jazz, but then, we are neither the majority view, nor the folks 
who
define "jazz" in the 21st Century, even IF we are right.

**   If one take the time to listen to some of it with an open mind, 
you will find
  it very appealing to the advertising industry which controls the media 
in the USA,
and Smooth Jazz works well and lends itself to that area as it is often,
not intrusive into the advertising message, and they are allowed to 
listen to it, while working.

**Some of it is actually decent and enjoyable music, and some artists 
are
finding success reaching backwards and updating old hit songs form the 
60s, while others are,
trying to get their tunes to find their way into the bedrooms of young 
folks who have no TV, in their bedrooms yet.

** I also believe that it is only a matter of time before some of the 
smooth jazzers start to learn to take it back to dancing,
and we will see yet another surge in Jazz popularity, not unlike what 
is happening now in the USA with the Swing Dancers Clubs.


> Thats my take on it . Probably way off beam.  Exit stage left. 
Whistling.../

Your take is on beam IMO. Right now, "I'm humming Bird's "Now's The 
Time"..
:-) VBG.

Cheers,
Steve Barbone

Ditto; for my take on it guys:))

Tom Wiggins


_______________________________________________
Dixielandjazz mailing list
Dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com
http://ml.islandnet.com/mailman/listinfo/dixielandjazz


________________________________________________________________________
Check out the new AOL.  Most comprehensive set of free safety and 
security tools, free access to millions of high-quality videos from 
across the web, free AOL Mail and more.