I also hate it, but on the other end. Jazz used to be a counter culture genre that challenged the idea that music had to fit inside boxes of right and wrong. It was very anti elitist, and then… It became the monster it sought to destroy. Go to any jazz jam and you’ll probably run into a prick who will police what scales you use and roll their eyes at you that you haven’t memorized “Giant Steps” or can’t play a mixolydian scale in every key.
I ended up being a bassist in a punk band for a minute and on paper I should have been bored as hell on stage, but then I learned punk is not a playlist- it’s a culture. It’s super anti elitist and asks “why do you need to be a virtuoso to tell your story?”
I remember having trouble clicking into the punk mentality during my first rehearsal, and then my buddy on the drums told me I was “playing too good”. I got angry ant my strings and then it hit. I still like listening to jazz, but I call myself a “jazz punk”.
Also the best jazz album of all time is “Well I should have*… Learned how to play piano” by H Jon Benjamin (voice of Archer & Bob from Bob’s Burgers). He hired a studio bassist, drummer, and sax player to record an album but didn’t tell them he doesn’t know how to play piano. Fuckin’ slaps.
I studied Jazz and…
I also hate it, but on the other end. Jazz used to be a counter culture genre that challenged the idea that music had to fit inside boxes of right and wrong. It was very anti elitist, and then… It became the monster it sought to destroy. Go to any jazz jam and you’ll probably run into a prick who will police what scales you use and roll their eyes at you that you haven’t memorized “Giant Steps” or can’t play a mixolydian scale in every key.
I ended up being a bassist in a punk band for a minute and on paper I should have been bored as hell on stage, but then I learned punk is not a playlist- it’s a culture. It’s super anti elitist and asks “why do you need to be a virtuoso to tell your story?”
I remember having trouble clicking into the punk mentality during my first rehearsal, and then my buddy on the drums told me I was “playing too good”. I got angry ant my strings and then it hit. I still like listening to jazz, but I call myself a “jazz punk”.
Also the best jazz album of all time is “Well I should have*… Learned how to play piano” by H Jon Benjamin (voice of Archer & Bob from Bob’s Burgers). He hired a studio bassist, drummer, and sax player to record an album but didn’t tell them he doesn’t know how to play piano. Fuckin’ slaps.
https://open.spotify.com/album/1Tryb7wCOtYxXjFDV1ZUev?si=T423PezIQh-MyB0v-bdebw