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Music is a language that takes many years of study to be able to speak fluently. And yet even those who cannot speak the language can understand it. Even the tone deaf person can understand music on some level.
 Louis Armstrong could speak two languages I understand: English and Jazz Still, a deep understanding of the complexity of music isn't necessary to appreciate it. It's not necessary to know that Louis Hayes plays triplet 6/8 feel over a melody in 4/4 on Horace Silver's "Señor Blues" to enjoy the music. Those who do understand this may have a deeper understanding of the music, but everyone can relate to the music for its emotive force.
Yet again, there aren't many people buying up copies of Horace Silver albums, which makes me wonder if it is a lack of understanding of the complexity of some forms of music that makes pop music typically rather simple, and in turn makes some forms of jazz so scary for many people.
I don't want to believe this. I would like to think that non-musicians can appreciate jazz, even modern jazz. I have met some. I met a guy at the Village Vanguard last year who was a true jazz devotee. And he had absolutely no musical training. We were both there alone so we decided to join each other. I could tell he was digging Chris Potter as much as I was.
I decided to return to the Vanguard the next night, again by myself, to see the Vanguard Big Band. And guess who should come sauntering in shortly after the waitress delivered my beer? Yup, same guy. That was a great experience to meet with someone as enthusiastic about jazz as I am — twice! It doesn't happen often, unfortunately.
The musicians and composers who are highly skilled at improvising or composing are the poets of this language. They are the Shakespeare's, Wordsworth's, and the Eliot's of the language. I suppose there are only a small number of people who are interested in reading poetry, and unfortunately that seems to be true for jazz as well.
How do we fix this? How do we get more people interested in jazz?
See also: Music is a Vague Language
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