It s a universal music, enjoyed by anyone who plugs into its swing, its intricacies, its foot-tapping fun and soulful language. They want to bring something of the real world to the sanctuary a jazz sense of playfulness, but also its edgy reminder of life s beauty, tragedy, complexity. The complications of life dogged jazz from the start. Born in that overripe human stew called New Orleans, jazz is a spiritual gumbo of Creole style, gospel church vibe, slave song, march music and segregation laws, played on brass instruments popularized in the Civil War. Mostly, though, jazz comes out of the blues, that cry of pain shaped by Southern poverty and hopelessness and turned into a universal sound of redemption.
Jazz remains shot full of cruel contradictions.
It s an acutely American music, yet it does not sell well here. It s a beautiful music, yet among its classic musicians it has produced its share of heroin junkies. The word jazz covers a ridiculously broad band of music from the lite noodlings of Kenny G to the latest unlistenable honks of the avant-garde. The newcomer can get frustrated finding a satisfactory way into the music. Yet somewhere at the core of jazz tradition, sojourners encounter the real thing.