How is jazz meant to be enjoyed?

[Andrew Fernandes]

I have been trying to "expand my pallette" So I tried listening to a lot of jazz. To me, it seems that jazz is there to be listened to neither be enjoyed nor hated. I think my favorite song so far is senor mouse. To me, jazz gives a nice aura but doesn't make me sweeten my ear it's not like an instant hit. I can give an example. I was listening to jazz whilst in the shower and it felt like I was on a highly expensive plane first-class journey, I actually thought that. I am thinking I feel like a VIP but I am not completely enticed by the music.

 

[Rad Synner]

Music is subjective so you will enjoy Jazz if you like it and that's really all there is in my opinion. But then again, I don't think you should look at Jazz as one big pile that you have to entirely enjoy or not at all. This statement applies to all genres. Metal is cool but some artists just don't resonate with me and so on and so forth. I get it, Jazz has been put on a pedestal and when you go in music school, it's often one of the first course presented. But I have to disagree with your statement that Jazz is neither there to be enjoyed or hated because there's a lot of people who genuinely love (and hate) Jazz. So i'm gonna go on a wild assumption, and correct me if I'm wrong, that perhaps you just don't connect with the jazz you are exposing yourself to.

At the end of the day, I'm of a belief that life is too short to force yourself to enjoy something that just doesn't resonate with you. Doesn't mean that you can't give it a try, on the contrary. It's good to try. But if you sit there and you feel bored by what you listen, doesn't matter if all the critics in the world says that it's the best thing ever, to you it's just not enjoyable and that is completely fine.

And also, your taste will change as you grow up and change as well. So for a minute there, a type or genre of music might not resonate with you and 5 years later, you find yourself enjoying it. Reversely, there are things we enjoy when young and later on, it just doesn't resonate with us anymore.

In conclusion, enjoy jazz or even music in general however you want. Yeah you can hear what your idol or whoever has to say about how to enjoy this or that but it's not because it's true for them that it's gonna be true for you. In short, if you really want to develop yourself, go look for what resonates with you and what attracts you. Allow your taste to naturally evolve as you discover pieces of music there and there and most importantly, in my opinion, be yourself and enjoy whatever you enjoy!

 

[Andrew Fernandes]

Music is subjective so you will enjoy Jazz if you like it and that's really all there is in my opinion. But then again, I don't think you should look at Jazz as one big pile that you have to entirely enjoy or not at all. This statement applies to all genres. Metal is cool but some artists just don't resonate with me and so on and so forth. I get it, Jazz has been put on a pedestal and when you go in music school, it's often one of the first course presented. But I have to disagree with your statement that Jazz is neither there to be enjoyed or hated because there's a lot of people who genuinely love (and hate) Jazz. So i'm gonna go on a wild assumption, and correct me if I'm wrong, that perhaps you just don't connect with the jazz you are exposing yourself to.

At the end of the day, I'm of a belief that life is too short to force yourself to enjoy something that just doesn't resonate with you. Doesn't mean that you can't give it a try, on the contrary. It's good to try. But if you sit there and you feel bored by what you listen, doesn't matter if all the critics in the world says that it's the best thing ever, to you it's just not enjoyable and that is completely fine.

And also, your taste will change as you grow up and change as well. So for a minute there, a type or genre of music might not resonate with you and 5 years later, you find yourself enjoying it. Reversely, there are things we enjoy when young and later on, it just doesn't resonate with us anymore.

In conclusion, enjoy jazz or even music in general however you want. Yeah you can hear what your idol or whoever has to say about how to enjoy this or that but it's not because it's true for them that it's gonna be true for you. In short, if you really want to develop yourself, go look for what resonates with you and what attracts you. Allow your taste to naturally evolve as you discover pieces of music there and there and most importantly, in my opinion, be yourself and enjoy whatever you enjoy!

Dammit, I really was hoping I could develop and like the genre. It doesn't sound bad, everything makes sense it's intriguing it's just I do not love it. There is a particular part in senor mouse that I like but I'm assuming that it is because it strays away from conventional jazz.

 

[Awex Came]

It is meant to be enjoyed, but it’s enjoyed only by a certain group of people. We call them masochists.

 

[Jamie London]

With gin
Nah it’s just going to be different for everyone, I dig jazz but definitely not ALL jazz haha. I just have a blast listening to it

 

[Lindsey]

On mute.

But seriously it depends on the type of jazz. The calmer jazz is nice for easy listening and as background music. (Or for elevators..) while I think the others are more for active listening

 

[William B.]

The old cartoons have Jazz music like the Pink Panther and Batman? I think Batman's more Rock

 

[Chris Johnston]

It's completely different for everyone I guess, just like any genre of music.

For me it's on a long bus Journey for sure, next time you're on a commute try the Time Out Album by Dave Brubeck - it's so good!

A lot of musicians (myself included) try and force themselves to like /listen to jazz because it's so high information and get caught up in trying to improve their ears rather than just enjoying it for what it is - but taken at complete face value, a lot of it is really moving - (especially the piano/sax stuff in 'Strange Meadow Lark' in the album I mentioned) It totally expands your ear to new sounds aswell so it's a great idea to get into

It's an acquired taste at first, but theres definitely a lot of great stuff out there. I'll need to check out the 'Senor Mouse' tune you mentioned, as I've not listen to Jazz in a while thanks for that!

Also, a great way to get into Jazz is looking up the history of the Musicians playing it (YouTube documentaries are great for this) as a lot of them were complete badass characters

 

[idssdi]

I really like Gypsy jazz but if you go into bebop jazz and stuff like that (you know the jazz with actual drums) I can be very picky who I enjoy listening to but that doesn't take anything away form the fact that j really like smooth jazz and gypsy jazz (wes Montgomery, Django Reinhardt, Robin Nolan, joacho Stephan, Jimmy Rosenberg, Rosenberg trio to name a view). Usually with music I get about as far as I like it or I don't like it so I never think about these kind of things too deeply tbh

 

[William B.]

Bebop & Rocksteady

 

[Muz Malek]

It's not about how it should be enjoyed, but when it is enjoyed hahah.

Every style of music has it characteristics. Try and search on TV programs introductions, elevator music, movies, and see moments when that particular arrangement style is being played (suspense, mischief, comedic, etc.).

There isn't a right or wrong, but it's like a puzzle piece. One edge may fit, but the other doesn't. Like playing Careless Whisper just as Thanos snapped the gauntlet.

Cheers!

 

[Zesty Rage]

Try listening to Layla by Eric Clapton MTV unplugged version. To me it has a little jazzy tone to it that I personally love. But I dont love jazz. I love more classical style music and old school rock N roll/metal