Saving jazz

There was an interesting article in The Wall Street Journal yesterday, about how jazz appears to be dying and what might be needed to “save” it. The basic crux of the argument is that the clientele which listens to live jazz is not only shrinking, but also growing older, the presumption being, jazz is now akin to classical music in that it is pursued more as an art form and less as a type of music.

I’m not sure I get the distinction, because when I’m playing the piano, I don’t really feel like I’m “doing” art. Maybe somebody passing by my window might be struck by my “art”, but I doubt it. As for jazz passing into the realm of classical music with an aged, presumably affluent, fan base, well so be it. Hell, this entire blog is about the fact that I got to jazz late and now I’m trying to make up for lost time. I can’t help it if I’m in the “old” demographic. Give me a break!

For what it’s worth, I think it is way too early to push the panic button. If I can “discover” and enjoy an entirely different type of music that I never enjoyed before, it could happen to anybody at any time. Who knows? Maybe when the younger generation reaches my age, they won’t be nostalgic for the rappers and grunge and whatnot that clutters their music sphere now. And even if they are, a person’s passion is their own. I’ll not question that.

Jazz does not need to be saved, because it will never die. Trust me on that.