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  • Can't let a jazz thread in a lefty space go by without posting the greatest album cover in jazz: Thelonious Monk, Underground

    • When Monk went on a European tour in the late 60s, the entire time he didn't say a single word to anyone in the band. Months after they got back, he called the band members to apologize. He said he just couldn't talk to them because they were too ugly.

  • Jazz is studying the rules of music theory for an entire lifetime just to know the correct way to break them

  • Trying to define jazz is going to be a bad time, like trying to define art or the meaning of life. Jazz originated and developed over time as an African American take on popular music; bands playing popular tunes all night at dance clubs developed their own style, swinging the rhythm to keep people dancing and improvising to keep the music fresh.

    I think the development of bebop had a huge effect on jazz, taking it from being primarily dance music to then focusing on virtuosic players. Bands got smaller and soloists became much more of a focus. Since bebop popped up in the 40s, most jazz has been heavily influenced by it.

    Since the early 60s probably, there's been a lot more branching and specialization in different jazz traditions, along with the growth of free jazz and other avant garde styles that explore breaking various "rules" of trad jazz.

    It's hard to recommend more than a few certified classics without knowing what you're looking for. I'd say early John Coltrane, Hank Mobley, and Charlie Parker are a great place to start. If you want to go earlier, Louis Armstrong's early stuff is great if you can get over the recording quality. If you want to go later, good luck, there's a ton.

    • Bebop was also popularized because bands got smaller due to conscription or just people joining the war effort, either at home or on the front. The music changed to fit the material circumstances of playing it.

  • Yo jazz is music at its most theoretical, most experimental. Only the best of the best can do it well and it's not always easy to listen to. It's not always designed to chill with, sometimes it's more akin to the feeling of learning something new than the feeling you get listening to music. Lots of times i listen and don't enjoy, never come back. But sometimes i listen, initially don't like, but come to appreciate the idea and come around. I think because jazz is so experimental it's ok if you don't dig it. Even if you don't, it drives the rest of music and you'll eventually hear its impact on all the songs you love if you take the time to learn to appreciate it.

    Check out the Miles davis - kind of blue album. Immensely listenable and chill. If you like it, check out the extended versions or there where Davis talks about how he arranged it and put it together.

  • Gonna second the recs for Django. His work is deceptively simple, but it basically makes it great for people unfamiliar with jazz as a whole. Just starting off on some of the more wild and experimental stuff may not be the best approach.

  • You've got plenty of recommendations in the comments. There is actual jazz theory to break down some of the key aspects of jazz style, but with the caveat that everyone who really understands jazz breaks the "rules" of jazz. Like others said, it's experimental.

    One of the big things you'll notice is they emphasize every other beat starting on beat 2. Rock music tends to do this as well, but they start the emphasis on beat one.

    In 4/4 time...Rock = emphasis on 1 and 3. Jazz = emphasis on 2 and 4 (the off-beats). This gives jazz a different feeling, like it's played less "straight." Guess that means jazz is gay.

    There's also a bunch of theory in terms of the chord progressions in jazz vs "straight" or classical music, but FUCK writing that shit up here. Everything I've said can change based on the style too. Funk music again emphasizes beats 1 and 3, but is kind of in-between rock and jazz stylistically.

78 comments