Jazz: Underrated or Overrated?
Discussions of music on the internet are always are fun to watch and participate in. In my journey to become knowledgeable on jazz, I’ve seen two major opinions that people have on the musical genre. The first being that jazz is overrated and pretentious. The second is that jazz is underrated and that people these days can’t appreciate good music. Now which one is correct? Is there an opinion that is more correct than the other one? Or is there a third, more nuanced take that analyzes both opinions and comes to a more rounded opinion? I hope to elaborate on that third opinion below.
Let’s take a brief step back and look at the history of jazz music. Created by African Americans in the early 20th Century, jazz almost seemed destined to be unpopular with the white majority. However, despite the villification in the 10’s and 20’s, jazz music became very popular with all audiences in America during the 30s and 40s. Within this golden age, many jazz musicians were able to make big names out of themselves (Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker, the list goes on).
As jazz fell from the public spotlight, the influences of jazz lived on in the musical genres that followed (and still live on, to this day). This includes musical flairs, quotes in music, covers, solo inspirations. Rock musicians were pretty public in saying that some of their inspirations came from famous jazz musicians.
However, jazz music didn’t just slowly wither and in the 50s and 60s, it continuously evolved. While swing and bebop songs were still being made, other sub-genres emerged, such as cool jazz, hard bop, avant-garde, jazz fusion, and many, many more. There are many contemporary jazz artists who make music today that sound nothing like, yet have deep reverence for the jazz from the “golden age”.
Now let’s step forward again. Today, jazz has found its niche audience. Those who like jazz support it heavily within its own ecosystem. If you think jazz is overrated and pretentious, fair enough. Just know that jazz (at least today) isn’t made for the average, everyday listener. Don’t feel discouraged or upset if you don’t get what makes jazz so popular; you shouldn’t feel obligated to know right off-the-bat. I know I struggled to understand the appeal at first. If you appreciate jazz and want it to be more popular, I would respectfully disagree. I believe that jazz is in a good place right now. Jazz has no need to become wildly popular, because it already was. It has its place in history, and its influences shine brightly today. If you want to see the tradition live on today, support your local jazz musicians!
Put simply, jazz music is neither underrated, or overrated: it’s properly rated. Thanks for reading!
