what is 'modern' to you???

[ArtSalt]

In my early years of jazz listening at the end of the fifties, the word "modern" featured as a jazz category and was used by record stores, etc., along with "traditional" and "mainstream", the latter denoting jazz by musicians of Buck Clayton's generation. Some record stores also had a "progressive" category, which seemed to consist of discs by Kenton and Shorty Rogers. All this, of course, was before the category "avant garde" emerged. Biggest sellers in the "modern jazz" category were Brubeck and the MJQ. In Britain these subdivisions were reinforced by a virtual war between "traddies" and "modernists".

An old colleague of mine use to sneak into dances for the American Airmen near Burtonwood Air Base in the mid-50s. Use to put on an American accent to get in.

He also insisted that Latin jazz was the ultimate underground music at the time.

[Jazzmoose]

In my early years of jazz listening at the end of the fifties, the word "modern" featured as a jazz category and was used by record stores, etc., along with "traditional" and "mainstream", the latter denoting jazz by musicians of Buck Clayton's generation. Some record stores also had a "progressive" category, which seemed to consist of discs by Kenton and Shorty Rogers. All this, of course, was before the category "avant garde" emerged. Biggest sellers in the "modern jazz" category were Brubeck and the MJQ. In Britain these subdivisions were reinforced by a virtual war between "traddies" and "modernists".

I'm trying to picture a bunch of jazz fans doing their own Quadrophenia bit, but I'm having a hard time...

[ArtSalt]

Mods came out of the London modernists who digged modern jazz, but the mods were later reaching their peak in around 64/65.

There was also a class element, the aspirational working class who made in to universities in the first boom of education post-war were very much jazz fans whilst the manual working class were more into the early rock of the period. At least that's how people who were there at the time explain it to me.

[A Lark Ascending]

There was also a class element, the aspirational working class who made in to universities in the first boom of education post-war were very much jazz fans whilst the manual working class were more into the early rock of the period. At least that's how people who were there at the time explain it to me.

I think that's a pretty valid generalisation.

I came of age a bit later - 15 in 1970 when music took me over. 'Aspirational working class who made it to university' would describe my background perfectly - it was Prog Rock (not called that at the time) that grabbed me and then, when that faded, jazz, classical and folk. People I knew at school who just wanted to leave as soon as possible were much more into Tamla Motown, Bowie, more physical dance-related music etc [and their younger brothers and sister would have been the first punks, rapidly followed by my younger brothers and sisters who wanted to be in on the fashion!]. They found my listening preferences boring and pretentious.

From 1970 to 1973 what I enjoyed was definitely considered 'modern'. By late-1976 it was anything but!

Edited May 29, 2013 by A Lark Ascending