Tonight I type this entry from a small coffee shop hosting a jazz band. At some moments they're a little rough... but for the most part entertaining. I surprisingly got in some higher level reading while the music took over the background.
I have some trouble listening to jazz recordings, but I love hearing it live. And jazz is meant to be heard in that fashion. The music itself is in the moment. If follows a few rules, but works around them, creating the ability to feel new and different while still maintaining a sense of familiarity. I liken it to conversation; when recorded it personifies a time or moment where it can be it's own entity, whereas when live it demands a choice of interaction.
There's also an interaction between the jazz musicians themselves. Effective jazz relies on the ensemble; there are no star individuals, but each individual is given the respect and opportunity to shine. A drum solo here, a guitar solo there... the order is rarely defined, but somehow each one finds their place. As is the effective communicator, it is not one who waits to speak, but one who allows, adapts, and responds.
Interestingly enough, jazz will never gain the overt popularity it once had in the past, but will most certainly be around as long as the instruments that make up its music.
