United States

It's just a hard sell and few club to play it in, so I don't get to play it much.

That little line speaks volumes about Jazz. Like it or not..

I hope we didn't scare Dougmeister off...

For every one person who says it's too hard, there's 5 who are doing it.
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My point being -
Some people walk in the rain, others just get wet.

Sure, it's all about WHAT YOU LOVE.

It is harder to get good jazz gigs, though.
I've heard that more than once.

Some people walk in the rain, others just get wet.

That sounds profound..

Can I have an English translation? lol

Aren't there any musicians here that don't like playing rock music? All I ever get in my mailers is a bunch of crap about rock bands. Yecch! How about some jazz musicians? Or do they all look somewhere else?

I do a lot of music and jazz is one of them. I came here looking for jazz musicians. It really doesn't matter to me. I have many dream jobs.

I think a lot of it is your location. I'm in an area that is mostly redneck, so jazz appreciation is low.
Yet, we did a good jazz thing weekly for 2 years, and got a pretty good following, mostly just having fun. When we started we got 8 people to the first show, and by the end we had hundreds. We'd have done much better with country, though. But we didn't wanna play it. This was for our own fun.
In some cities Jazz gigs aren't too hard to get, but in rural AZ its not typically the best kind of music to play if you want money.

I can "rock on" and I like all types of music but when it comes to performing i'm more into gospel, contempo christian, jazz, rythm and blues...

http://www.youtube.com/user/grilo

i'm a rock musician who loves jazz. the truth is jazz takes a much more
of a seasoned musician to master. that's not a snub, just a fact and does not
make one form better than the other.

i'm a rock musician who loves jazz. the truth is jazz takes a much more
of a seasoned musician to master. that's not a snub, just a fact and does not
make one form better than the other.

Another very true statement. An excellent jazz community is in Ohio. Many, many jazz folks live there. Cleveland has several jazz clubs. I continue to get newsletters from the Bop Stop. I admit, I have not been in the Buckeye State for 10 years but I was once a member of the NE Ohio Jazz Society and played for jazz picnics.

My experience has been that jazz musicians have a vastly larger repertoire of different rhythms and chords.
That's what makes it sound so unusual, compared to other music.
"Unusual" isn't always 'good,' but often it is.
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I play jazz and rock and several dozen other styles of music; but I'm primarily a jazz musician.
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I love good jazz.
But - there is some jazz, which, even if performed with excellence - I just do not like..
For example - I like funky jazz, with a clever rhythm and a great bass-pattern.
But - if I hear that same bass-pattern repeated 16 times in a row - I will probably never listen to the song ever again.
Jazz sub-styles are wildy disimilar from each other.
And not all Jazz musicians like all styles of Jazz.
For example - everyone has heard 'New Orleans Jazz.'
It's ok, but you will never hear me playing it.
Then there's what I've been calling 'abstruse jazz.' I don't know the proper name, but it's a style of jazz where it seems like the guys are just all doing their own thing, ignoring each other. . . . don't like it.
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Jazz is like wine - there's a huge variety . . . I like some, don't like others.
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Although I'm a jazz musician, I grew up on "Smoke on the Water,"Iron Man," "Aqualung," and others . . .
Hey - I'll always still like the songs from my past . . . "867-5309, "Some Kind of Wonderful,"Feel Like Making Love," Radar Love, Come Together, Walk this Way, Behind Blue Eyes, Layla, The Pink Panther, Old man, Pinball Wizard, Proud Mary, Suffragette City, Cocaine, Rocky Mountain Way, Mary Jane's Last Dance, Use Me, and a thousand other songs of all styles . . . from the Mommas and the Poppas to Yes to Led Zep to Jeff Beck . . .
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I don't know how many Jazz musicians started out as jazz musicians. I certainly didn't.
I didn't start doing jazz until I'd first played, rock, folk, metal, punk (yep - I played punk for a full year), and a few other styles . . .
So, I guess there might be some truth in the comments about jazz musicians and experience . . . I know for a fact that, in my first 5 years of guitar playing, - I never could have played some of the songs I'm playing now. . . no way . . .
Hell - some of the Jazz songs I play now are still hard for me to play; the songs need 100% of my attention . . .
I'm not going to play "Jaunty Boy" while I'm in the middle of a conversation . . .
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But . . .
I guess my point is more that we all just play the music we like to hear the most.
But if we are NOT playing the music we would most like to play . . . then it's time for something new, or we'll get in a rut, and hit a musical plateau.
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Just don't get caught playing music that bores you, whatever style it is . . .

ROCK-N-ROLL !!!

Man, this thread inspired me to look up one of my favorite jazz people and jazz instructors in Ohio. Dr. Tom Croghan...yes a real doctor who specialized in obstetrics and gynecology. His heart was/is in jazz and has been one of the jazz worlds biggest supporters. He retired about 5 years ago and lives/lived out his retirement as a jazz musician...he was diagnosed with brain cancer... The reason I keep saying was/is is I don't know if he is still in the world of the living. I can't find anything that posted beyond 2008. He's playing piano in this video.

http://www.livevideo.com/video/E6B235B1 ... endly.aspx

He is quite an accomplished musician and I believe that he went into medicine for the sole purpose of being able to afford being a musician.

There's so many different types of jazz. To say that you won't play this style or that style is bizarre. Just as there's so many styles of blues. When looking for new players I often hear that I won't play any Hendrix or I don't play delta blues or I don't whatever. Why not just get together anyway and play and see what you sound like together. I tell people that we do some Stevie Ray Vaughan tunes and people say they don't play like him. So what? Play Pride and Joy whichever way you want and see what it sounds like. I DON'T CARE. When I hear people start pigeon-holing what they like and what they dislike I interpret that as being NARROW MINDED. You'll never know what the entire band sounds like UNTIL YOU GET YOUR BUTTS TOGETHER AND GIVE IT A TRY...