[Dixielandjazz] Why The American Public Don't Like Jazz

[Robert Ringwald]

I posted this to Norman Vicker’s list. He asked me to post it on DJML.  So, here it is.  


Damn good, Bob.  Now I’m going to reverse the process and suggest that you post it
also on DJML.  Too Good not to share. I
I’m posting to Musicians and Jazzfans now!  Thanks.
Norman
From: Robert Ringwald [mailto:rsr at ringwald.com]
Sent: Saturday, August 25, 2012 4:28 PM
To: Vickers Norman
Subject: Why Americans Don't Like Jazz
Paul Kurtz wrote in part:
I think this is a fascinating topic. In the main, the reason Americans and
ultimately others in very busy cultures don't like jazz (and classical, for
that matter) is that it takes work to listen. Things are built in sound
bytes today. I'm not sure the greatest orator on the planet could survive,
for instance, in today's political environment. Jazz, classical, and great
oration requires a person to follow a stream of thought or logic or at least
look for a pattern instead of having something fed to them. It requires some
longer-term attentioning, engagement of the brain, and a willingness for one
to challenge their own conclusions about life, art, and their innermost
thoughts.
(snip)
I agree with Paul. With today’s 6-second sound bites and 10 second commercials on
TV, the news crawl telling you about other news while watching a news program, combined
with the visual aspects of watching something while listening, the American public
can’t concentrate on one subject for longer than a minute without being visually
stimulated.
Among the few Scott Joplin Rags that I play is a beautiful Ragtime waltz titled Bethena.
When my children were little, they loved the song. In fact, my older daughter Beth
changed her name to Bethena for a short while, while doing some acting.
My younger daughter Molly called me on the telephone a month before her first marriage
asking me to play Bethena at her wedding.
Being blind I cannot read sheet music so had to memorize it. I worked for a month
memorizing all 6 or 7 strains.
Now, when I play Bethena for a Jazz audience, I often first admonish the audience
against talking during the piece. I tell them that it is a very beautiful composition.
I tell them essentially what I said above, tying it into  regarding audiences unable
to sit still and listen to a beautiful piece of music for 6-minutes without talking.
It works, they don’t talk.
Then I tell them about having to learn the piece for my daughter’s wedding. I tell
them that it took longer to learn Bethena than the marriage lasted.
-Bob Ringwald
www.ringwald.com
Amateur (ham) Radio Operator K6YBV
916/ 806-9551
The crime of taxation is not in the taking of it. It's in the way it's spent.
--Will Rogers March 20, 1932