Jazz has been misunderstood since the beginning. In the early years, jazz's spontaneity and lack of elaborate written music made it seem "lees - than" to scholars and classical music fanatics. Big band swing raised questions of black and white at a time when segregation was still very much the norm in America. In its early years, this music wasn't universally accepted: A turning point came when Benny Goodman's Orchestra became the first jazz ensemble to headline at Carnegie Hall in 1938. Next came the Barney Kessel generation in the 1940s. When Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie picked up the pace with the music critics called Bebop once again a new form of jazz was misperceived - even by jazz players themselves. Swing band leader Eddie Condon went so far as to call it 'slop' in the pages of Downbeat, and the trumpeter Louis Armstrong said, "First people get curious about it just because it's new, but soon they get tired of it because it's no good." OF course, we know now that that Bird and Diz were among jazz's creative giants.
This being the modern age and all, analytical thinking is considered a plus. And it can be great, if it cures cancer, prevents polio… or shows someone how to have a successful marriage. But in the case of music, too much analysis can scare people away who may actually love the music.
Jazz has been victimized by too much heaviosity (that is, the state of being heavy). Jazz's great players are indeed musical geniuses. Their music is some of the world's greatest music: intellectually, emotionally, and aesthetically. Jazz, though, is a music that most of all, is felt. It comes from a musician's heart and goes to a music lover's heart. Good jazz connects with your heart, or soul, or wherever your feelings live. Improvisation is, for many jazz musicians, the most effective way to communicate - more powerful and more expressive than words. Art Blakey fits perfectly into this spot.
Jazz is more than 100 years old and has undergone many changes. It has never been music for the masses - like Beatles or Madonna -. If anything, it has probably become more esoteric over time - more complex and less accessible. Jazz is a deep and amazing art form that's still to find a place on a par with some other art forms, such as classical music and the 20th century painting. May people don't listen to jazz simply because they haven't really heard it before, or they don't know anything about it.
