[Nox]

My 12 year old daughter is having her (our!) first Band Camp experience. Before we left last night, some of the staff put on an impromptu Jazz concert - 5 musicians who never played together before...trumpet, alto sax, double bass, piano, percussion...

...as I was listening to the concert I came to a conclusion...

...I don't like Jazz...

...it wasn't just them...although I commend them for putting together a 40 minute concert in no time at all...it wasn't, in my opinion, very good...it was the music itself...it all sounded the same! So what's the point?...

...and sadly to say...I was least impressed by the double bass player, apparently a prof. at the University of North Carolina (?)...

...they did well on a Norah Jones improv., but the rest was just noisy and was well on the way to giving me a headache...if it wasn't a Band Camp (re: learning experience) I would have left...

 

[baroque flute]

Good for you, I guess! B) I don't like Jazz either--it gives me a headache, and makes me feel lost and empty. I am extremely affected by music, and Jazz can make me feel depressed the rest of the day.

 

[Nox]

...LOL...I'm happy to hear that...(sad, eh??? :usd

 

[Quaverion]

I actually like some kinds of jazz. I think I know the type you are talking about, which I don't like either. If you ever get a chance to listen to Coleman Hawkin's "Bouncing with Bean" it might change your view on jazz. Hey, Daniel, am I allowed to put this song up as an .mp3 file, or would that be a violation of copyright. I own the CD...

 

[Daniel]

Unfortunetly it IS a violation of copyright, i am sorry

 

[Daniel]

I don't like Jazz much. It destroys my ability to listen to classical stuff after it. And it seems to be a bit superficcial and equal in every piece. In some improvisations it gets even aggressive for me and some are only virtuosic circus acts. The slower stuff is the easiest to listen for me. But in general I can't get into a jazz mood. It is too foreign for me

 

[Nox]

...I am SO glad I'm not alone...

 

[oistrach13]

you aren't alone B)

 

[Anton]

Well, i figure that chances are that the double bass sounded crazy because of tuning. Jazz instruments are tuned sometimes above or below what classical instruments play, so the proffesor (fine, he should know how to play jazz) kept on adjusting to whatever his classical tuning intuition told him. I learnt this on violinmasterclass.com which is relatively advanced.

 

[Harvey]

Whenever I hear someone in my school's jazz band play a solo/improvisation/cadenza kind of thing, I get the impression that they're just playing random notes...
I think Jazz is boring anyway. Maybe if they wouldn't play the same thing again and again and again and again and again.


and again.

 

[Daniel]

Yea, in our school was some blues and jazz music not long ago again. And I completely agree, it is boring, and really make feel me empty.

 

[Quaverion]

I am sorry to hear that the jazz you heard when you were introduced to it was so boring. I never had the opportunity to play jazz at my high school. I must agree, there is a lot of jazz that I hate, but there is twice as much that I like that is not exposed to the general public as much as empty jazz.

 

[Daniel]

Actually I have some jazz CDs and also by well known artists. Still remains the same. A personal attitude and taste.

 

[godzillaviolist]

jazz

I rember hearing a hillarious musical parody of jazz years ago, it made me laugh a lot. What made me laugh more was that when I showed it to someone who liked jazz, they thought it was a serious peice of music!
I have to say, jazz just irritates me. Also it took and ruined a perfectly good instrument ( the saxophone ). Now very few people can play the saxophone properly.
I remember waiting for a lesson at my conservatory last week and someone started playing jazz really loudly. It irritated me so badly I had to wait in another part of the building till my lesson...
godzilla

 

[Daniel]

The saxophone...if you think of it, nearly everyone has the association of Jazz.
What saxophone-pieces would you suggest to listen to besides any Jazz?

 

[godzillaviolist]

saxophone...

The saxophone...if you think of it, nearly everyone has the association of Jazz.
What saxophone-pieces would you suggest to listen to besides any Jazz?

Though this is a bit of generalisation; anything French. The french wrote for the saxophone all through out the Romantic era, before jazz became associated with it. Also, french saxophonists often develop a smooth "classical" tone; North American ones tend to sound like jazz players even in classical works. As for players from the rest of europe, it varies.
A great saxophone chamber group is the Rascher quartet. I'll put a link to a sound sample of theirs.
godzilla

 

[godzillaviolist]

saxophone sound

Here is a sound clip:

http://www.calarecords.com/sound files/CACD77003_01.mp3

It's the only sound clip I could find of the Rascher's playing their well known Bach arrangement.

 

[Daniel]

Amazing! Shows again that Bach can be played with nearly all instruments.

I remember the genious choice by Ravel to take the baritone (?) saxophone for the orchestration of the "Old castle" out of Mussorgsky's "Pictures of an exhibition".

 

[LiLi]

aah i know this is an old thread but i have to respond.
I think jazz can be wonderful! i know some jazz is really tiring and boring but there are so many different kinds of jazz, improvised or not.
also, improvising takes a lot more skill than just playing random notes. to improvise a chorus of a song, and sound well, the player has to study and memorize the chord sequence and all the different scales that go along with each of the chords. Given, some improvisors are less talented than others. but i would definitely recommend that a classical musician studied some jazz improv. It really helps you develop your theory and gives you a better understanding of msuic in general. And improvising with an ensemble brings you a great feeling of freedom and accomplishment.

 

[jack_in_cincinnati]

What always cracks me up is how such a boring, innocuous genre of music is romanticized out of all proportion to its value by jazz "authorities." It's always being boomed up as being on the cutting edge of music, but, in reality, its harmonic and rhythmic "innovations," which have been done to death for decade after decade, were employed much earlier and more effectively by the likes of Debussy, Stravinsky, Ives, Beethoven, and the ragtime composers.

What the jazz aficionados always seem to gravitate to in their discussions is their idols' penchants for alcoholism and heroin addiction and the early deaths, prison sentences, and abject poverty that often resulted. They seem to be endlessly fascinated by that stuff.

I think I'm a pretty astute listener, certainly a highly experienced one. But I've tried and tried to bring jazz into my listening experience. I've sought out the highly recommended albums. It invariably leaves me cold and bored. Sorry.