Compared to many other established musical genres Jazz has certainly struggled in latter part of the 20th century to maintain interest from the general public. Compare Jazz to say Country & Western or Classical music both still very much have a popular following. Jazz back in the 1920’s and 30’s was THE popular music of its time, spurred on by such notable characters as Joe ‘King’ Oliver and Louis Armstrong, and in the 30’s and 40’s Duke Ellington and Glen Miller to name but a few jazz pioneers. What made their music popular and touched the hearts of millions of listeners was the music’s ability to connect with their audience- passion and excitement, the music was fun, clever and listenable.
I would argue and this is only my opinion so take it or leave, by the end of the 1940’s a new generation of up and coming jazz musicians needed to establish themselves and their own identity and did so by technical brilliance and by establishing a new style of jazz. This certainly had the impact of wowing the audiences who attended the jazz clubs of the late 40’s and early 50’s and the style of jazz moved away quite distinctly from the formats that had had a more universal appeal to the general public. The music grew into several strands but was commonly called be-bop, hard-bop and so on. The chords sequences became increasingly complex, the melodic lines and improvisational structures became frantic. A far cry from the melodic and harmonic forms of jazz that had seen jazz at its popular point during the 30’s and 40’s.
Many of these be-bop and post bop artists were creating amazing new ways to perform and interpret Jazz. Some great examples were Miles Davis, John Coltrane, J J Johnson, Charlie Parker, Thelonius Monk and many more. Some regard the 50’s as the golden era of Jazz. Big bands and smaller ensembles flourished and there was a lot of energy and creativity and variety within the Jazz community. Around the mid 50’s Rock & Roll was emerging as the ‘new kid on the block’ and the youth of day were immediately swept up in the storm that was to become one of the greatest musical forms of the 20th Century. This in itself was not to lead to the demise of jazz as a popular musical format; the demise came from within jazz itself. By the late 1950’s and early 1960’s jazz musicians began stretching the boundaries even further and in so doing began to intellectualise the sound of jazz. Jazz was becoming very ‘high brow’, becoming the music of the middle class professional, complex, elite, no longer a medium for the general public. In effect the music had lost its general audience. Compared to the new emerging working class Rock culture with its dynamic energy, great melodies and harmonic structures Jazz had lost its ability to appeal to a wide audience. Free Jazz as it was called or post ‘Bop’ was taking jazz as an art form down a very lonely road take for example John Coltrane’s albums after 1963 such as ‘A Love Supreme’ or Miles Davis’s ‘######es Brew’. Jazz was becoming extremely marginalised and the Epi-centre of Jazz New York actively fostered and encouraged this downward spiral into ‘abstract Jazz’. Many of the aforementioned albums from the point of view of a trained musician are actually very interesting and enjoyable to hear but totally lost to the uninitiated listener.
Going back to my original title ‘Jazz is Dead, Long Live Jazz!’, it was my intention to other a brief critique on the subject of jazz as a no longer popular medium but there are enough jazz aficionados out their still burning the torch for our music. There are lessons however to be learned if we wish to see this music alive and kicking in the 21st century. Keep the music real, Louis Armstrong once said ‘if you can’t whistle it don’t play it….’ A solo should’nt be lost on your audience, it should connect like a bridge across a river. Let the music pour out without being lost in a fog of dense chords. Try and understand what made jazz work in the first place whilst finding the balance between your own creativity and connecting with your audience. Keep it real!

I am sure my son and his peers, just started at music colleges to study jazz, would disagree that it is 'dead'. Yes, it has struggled to keep an audience - hasn't classical music too?? From my experiences of attending many jazz gigs over the last few years, there seems to be a great upsurge in interest in jazz, especially amongst a younger audience, and there are certainly quite a few brilliant young players about - they are not all playing music that would offend the ears. As a classical performer, going to hear my son play has really made me re-evaluate my place on the stage - the audiences at the jazz gigs are so much more involved in the immediacy of the events, you can feel there enjoyment, whereas classical audiences are much more staid.

At the extreme edge have a listen to this on youtube-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QBeyKiyX1c
not exactly winding down music , albeit both very talented musicians.

I do feel their are many jazz musicians striking the right balance these days. I personally work very hard within my own music service to actively encourage and promote jazz in my area and its been very successful. In 2005 i managed to find 6 gigs for my groups, in 2006- 12 gigs and this year 34 gigs and counting so clearly their is an interest out their.

Couple of thoughts, probably contradictory.

Applications for jazz courses at music colleges in the UK have increased dramatically in the last few years (up 150% according to a recent Royal Academy open day). If young people are interested in jazz, it will survive and continue to evolve.

Saw the Mike Gibbs birthday concert tour last week at The Sage Gateshead. Fantastic compositions & arrangements by one of the masters plus solos from some of the finest players around at the moment (Gerard Presencer, Julian Siegel, Hans Koller etc + Bill Frizell on guitar). I am not a huge big band fan but this was a revelation musically in its subtlety and depth of colour. BUT the large hall was perhaps only a third full. Jazz doesn't seem to have a big audience, except for American superstars or smooth, cross-over artists like Jamie Cullum.

I guess this tour was heavily subsidised and the danger is that jazz turns inward, forgetting the need to engage a wider audience, ending up in an elite ghetto (arguably like classical music).