[Dixielandjazz] John Edward Hasse on "Jazz"

[Robert Ringwald]

Stephen G Barbone wrote:

> Smithsonian Magazine has an "Ask Smithsonian" page. One of the  
> questions asked on this page in the March Issue was:
> 
> Question: "Jazz from the 1920s sounds nothing like jazz today. Why do  
> we use 'jazz' for such different music?"
> 
> Answer: "The many disparate styles of jazz are linked by melodies with  
> bent or 'blue' notes, call-and-response patterns, off beat and  
> syncopated rhythms, and, finally, improvisation - each time a jazz  
> band plays a piece, it sounds fresh."
> 
> John Edward Hasse, Curator of American Music
> National Museum of American History.
> 
> Any comments?


It is unfortunate that Jazz from the 20s 50s 70s 90s and 2012 are all labeled Jazz.  I can't tell you how many times I have heard someone say, "I don't like Jazz."  What Jazz don't they like?  
 
I have posed this question before. I wonder what a Jazz musician such as Buddy Bolden or ones that passed in the 20s or 30s would think if they suddenly came back to life and was confronted with what is called Jazz today? Or, what if they turned on the radio and heard something such as Grunge Rock or Free Jazz.  Would they recognize it as music?  

I do think however, that Bix would have liked Bee-Bop and Modern Jazz. But not too sure about what came after.     

--Bob Ringwald
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"History is just one damn thing after another!"  -Anonymous