Does the jazz bug bite ever heal???

[sal]

As I finally worked through my backlog and was perusing my CD collection trying to decide what the next 5 discs in my CD changer should be, I got to thinking about this....

From about the time I was was finishing junior high (1990 or so) right up until about 1997, pretty much all I listened to was hip-hop. It was the music I grew up with, as I was able to relate to it at that point in my life. Around 1996, in the midst of my college years, I discovered rock & roll, which eventually got me completely involved in the jamband scene. Again, at that point of my life, it was a music that I was able to relate to given my mentality at the time....and like hip hop before it, I fully endulged.

In 1999, I heard "Bitches Brew" and that was the end. When I graduated in 2000 and got a job, I bought every jazz CD I possibly could, and since the jazz bug has bitten me, I have never looked back. I still hear Wu Tang Clan, Phish, Mobb Deep, moe., String Cheese Incident, A Tribe Called Quest, and the Rolling Stones quite often, and while I am able to enjoy this music to a degree, it doesn't get into my soul anymore like it used to. I wonder sometimes, will this ever happen with jazz?

It doesn't seem like it will. Jazz is so complex and intricate, where as hip-hop, rock, and jam music, while they are great in their own way, really only can reach a certain level IMO. Jazz to me seems infinite, and I don't ever see how I will be able to tire of it. Its music that seems to grow with me, where as with hip hop and rock, it was what it was, and it couldn't be anything else. But I remember thinking, at the time, that I would NEVER stop listening to hip hop, and I would NEVER stop driving across the country going to shows. And now, both are distant (but still pleasant) memories.

Obviously, none of us have gotten "over" jazz, or else we wouldn't inhabit this forum. But does anyone know someone who has just stopped listening to jazz for some reason? Does this music, just like other kinds of music, have its limits? Or is jazz a form of music that transcends the concept of just "outgrowing" it? As a 27 year old jazz listener, I'm interested in hearing your thoughts, especially those of you who have been listening for decades. Has jazz won your heart over other musics, or are you still into other forms of music (excluding classical, which I'm beginning to understand is like jazz in that way) just as much as jazz?

[wesbed]

From my experience with jazz, there are low spells, but the interest never fades. I'm just now reaching the end of a low spell.

I was playing jazz the last several weeks but wasn't enjoying it as much as normal. It could be a result of purchasing too many Mosaics and other various jazz CDs during the spring & summer months of this year (2004). I don't really know what causes a low spell.

I discovered that a friend of mine had an interest, but not much experience, with the jazz of MMW and The Greyboy Allstars. I showed my friend that some of the sounds of those bands were pioneered by Jimmy Smith. My friend liked Jimmy Smith and he got me listening to Jimmy Smith again by having me dig out my Jimmy Smith CDs for him to listen to. As is always the case with jazz, a few listens to Jimmy Smith and I was listening to Lou Donaldson, Tina Brooks, and Kenny Burrell. Tina Brooks led to Jackie McLean and on and on...

Edited October 18, 2004 by wesbed

[ghost of miles]

Forget it, man. You're a goner.

I got bit about 12 years ago. I'm now in my late 30s and the fever shows no signs of abating, for some of the same reasons that you state in your very thoughtful post. I still have a great appreciation for pop/rock, classical, r & b, etc., and there are times when I have to listen to music other than jazz. But jazz has become spiritual food/drink/breath for me; if I go longer than a day or two without it, I truly get to feeling deprived. I used to spend a great deal of time scrutinizing this phenomenon, trying to elaborate/articulate it, ponder it at length... now I just accept it as a part of my daily being. There's so much more I have to learn, and you're right, the music seems infinite... and immediate at the same time. I love living in it. Right now I'm listening to a live Ellington band broadcast of "Harlem Air Shaft" circa 1945 and thinking, does life get any aesthetically sweeter than this? Not often, anyway...

[Jim Alfredson]

Yes, it does heal. But it leaves a real ugly purple scar.

[A Lark Ascending]

I got bit c.1976 and am still spending silly amounts of money on jazz recordings. I've had a couple of periods away from the jazz...a couple of years in the early 80s, a long stetch in the late 80s into the 90s when classical took over.

But since c.1991 jazz has been centre stage. I'll still have the odd month when I'll play anything but jazz but jazz I always come back to. August/Sept were Irish folky months for me but I'm back to jazz again now.

[Alexander]

In the end, I think it's not jazz per se that I'm into so much as I'm into good music, and jazz - on the whole - is very good music. Over 90% of my collection is jazz, so obviously jazz ranks extremely high in my esteem. But I don't think I will ever reach a point where I'll listen to jazz to exclusion of all else, because there's too much good music available in other genres. I've recently gotten heavily into Reggae, for example. I've also recently discovered Radiohead and the White Stripes.

I think as long as your mind remains open to the infinite possibilities of existance, you'll never grow bored and you'll keep your ties to all of the musics you've enjoyed over the years. There's plenty to explore in rock, hip-hop, country, blues, etc. And they'll always be someone you've slept on (as I slept on RRK and Sonny Stitt for far too long) that needs exploring. As long as you maintain an open mind and a questioning spirit, you won't reach the end of the tether for a long, long time...

[John Tapscott]

As someone who got "bit" over 30 years ago, and whose music of listening and buying choice has been 98% jazz since then, the answer is "no", not if it was a real bite by the real bug. In fact, the disease only worsens.

[wesbed]

In fact, the disease only worsens.

Thanks for the information, John. Sheesh.

[ghost of miles]

In fact, the disease only worsens.

Thanks for the information, John. Sheesh.

There is only one cure... and that is to listen to more jazz.