...
Music classification is a commercial imperative. Where do you go to find what you need? Aisle 6, row 7. If you dont find there I dont make no money.
The 78 RPM record, and the 2 to 3 minute format of a pop song that fits onto a 45 we all born to address this need. It still happens to be the case in the digital age- so sure life imitates art and vice versa, and sometimes some things lag and some are ahead of the curve.
So the question here is a question of definitions. Your book, my, book, Stan's book Amazon's book, iTunes book..whos book do we go by? Who defines it for us? The market?
Musically speaking, there is no BOOK, but the market has one.
I can argue that DJs improvise. They mix tracks, overlap them, fade them in or out depending on the vibe of the audience/dance floor.
Where does one draw the line between rock and heavy metal? Was Metallica this first heavy metal band? Or were Black Sabbath and Led Zepplin heavy metal, except that no one told them back then?
Someone here said that jam-bands improvise a lot too, as why isn't that jazz?
What do I do with a great 15 minute piece of music? Nobodys going to buy it, so I either cut it up into a bite-sized piece or bury it. So now it doesn't exist, because it is undefined and not on amazon, and therefore dead. : )
Is our understanding of genres solely defined by Steve Jobbs and Jeff Bezos? I think it is Michael McDaniel's post that said there will be exceptions to everything.
I agree with your subtext, that why should jazz not also be seen as happier, more dixie, more dance hall, more fun, more accessible?
Why is it that when we say jazz we actually mean either Coltrane, or Miles, or Elvin etc... or some off the wall free stuff which has no obvious direction..
In my book ( sorry, the only one I have ) ....Jazz is its collective history and a linear, evolving, growing thread with many tentacles reaching out in different directions. Some have commercial salience some not.
And like many things, it cannot be defined. I think Jazzgregg came closest to a definition in another war o' the roses jazz thread where he suggested that jazz was an attitude. Even a lifestyle, maybe.
We all resist things we cannot pigeon- hole and categorize and are left with an uncomfortable feeling if some doesnt fit neatly. Jazz is one of those things I think.
Richard Feynman, one of the greatest physicists to walk this planet once said that he isn't uncomfortable with not knowing the answer to something but he was extremely uncomfortable with the idea of an answer that might be wrong.
" Why are we here? "... who knows... maybe for no reason at all. And maybe thats all there is to it. I can live with that."
...