# My Friends Don't Like Jazz? Boo!! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 12, 2003, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friends-dont-like-jazz-boo/212833 "2003-11-12T16:16:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2003, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friends-dont-like-jazz-boo/212833/21 "2003-11-13T17:23:29Z")
Everytime I’m at the mainboard I read this thread as "My Friends Don’t Like _Jizz_? Boo!! It didn’t bother me at first, but I’m starting to question my sanity. I do like Jazz though. ---
**Author:** ![musicguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ba0ec/32.png) [@musicguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/musicguy)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2003, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friends-dont-like-jazz-boo/212833/22 "2003-11-13T17:27:42Z")
**Hodge** , **Cerri** and **Eonwe** , Yes, that is exactly what I was trying to convey. Thank you for understanding my point. I think the poetry analogy was perfect. For the folks that think I am being condescending, hopefully I can explain my position better because my goal certainly wasn’t to put anyone down or sound elitist. I apologize if it came off that way. Balle\_M wrote: > [@](#): > > You used the phrase “open-minded” twice. I read that as implying that if one doesn’t like Jazz, he is closed-minded which is a large part of my definition of a bigot. > > As far as education goes, I feel that I have an excellent grounding in music. I play myself and have been exposed to some fine musicians in all genres including Jazz. The suggestion that if I only had more knowledge on the subject I would like Jazz wrankled me a bit. That isn’t what I meant. If you don’t like jazz, that in itself doesn’t make someone close-minded. We all have styles that we prefer over others. You could have all the knowledge in the world and still not like jazz, and that would be ok! If someone isn’t willing to at least give it a chance though, or isn’t willing to accept that some aspects of it might be going over their head, I would call that being close minded. Jazz IS a complex style of music, one that can be very difficult and require years of study to learn to play. In my own experience, learning to play jazz is something that a lot of musicians have difficulty with. I know I did. Likewise, it can be an aquired taste that requires more than a once-over to appreciate. From CanvasShoes: > [@](#): > > Shoot. I’ve been playing/singing and studying dance since I was about three. Including classical music. I still don’t like certain genre’s of music. > > (snip) > > I take issue with the insinuation that it’s because people who don’t like jazz aren’t smart enough, or don’t have a deep apprecation of music. And I never insinuated that you had to like Jazz. Some people do and some don’t. Let me try an analogy to make my point. Let’s say that I were to tell you (this is a hypothetical) that I love to watch line dancing but detest ballet because I went to one once and it was really boring. Would you possibly feel like maybe if I had more of an appreciation for ballet, understood a little more about it, that I might enjoy it more? If you told me that perhaps I was missing something, would that be “snobbish”? Personally, I don’t think there would be anything wrong in mentioning to me that maybe I wasn’t really getting the intricacies and nuances of the style. Perhaps you might even ask me to have a little more of an open mind about it. I wouldn’t find either of those statements offensive. If I were elitist or a snob about it, I would just say “Oh, you’ll never get jazz so don’t bother trying. It’s not for you.” But those aren’t my feelings at all. I think anyone can learn to appreciate jazz and I wish more people would give it a chance. ---
**Author:** ![umop\_ap\_sdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/dbc845/32.png) [@umop\_ap\_sdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/umop_ap_sdn)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2003, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friends-dont-like-jazz-boo/212833/23 "2003-11-13T21:24:26Z")
I don’t particularly like jazz either. How is it that one must learn the style before forming an opinion about it? Some people may think chord substitutions and melody variations are the greatest thing since sliced bread, but that doesn’t cut it for me. I’m just not that interested in getting all cerebral about it. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not offended by anything that’s been posted here; I just don’t see why I can’t have an opinion based specifically on my own interpretation of the music. If it bores me, I prefer not to hear it. ---
**Author:** ![Belrix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed655f/32.png) [@Belrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Belrix)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2003, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friends-dont-like-jazz-boo/212833/24 "2003-11-13T21:35:55Z")
Personally, I think the vast majority of admitted Jazz lovers are similar to the audiophile set - the kind of people that expect that $2500 power cords and $500/foot speaker wire make things sound better. It cost a lot - it must be good. I think 90% of modern jazz is just a jumbo-sized box of clothes for the emperor, something to feel superior about liking because it means you’re intelligent if you enjoy it. My ex-inlaws listened to classical music for the same reasons. It’s unintelligable noise, it must be good. I’d put a large chunk of modern art in same classification as jazz. Yes - it is a rather broad brush, isnt’ it? ---
**Author:** ![musicguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ba0ec/32.png) [@musicguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/musicguy)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2003, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friends-dont-like-jazz-boo/212833/25 "2003-11-13T22:04:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by cityboy916 \* > \*\* > > Don’t get me wrong, I’m not offended by anything that’s been posted here; I just don’t see why I can’t have an opinion based specifically on my own interpretation of the music. If it bores me, I prefer not to hear it. \*\* Sure, nobody is suggesting that you can’t have that opinion. I’m just humbly suggesting that there may be something more to it that you are missing. It’s like if I said " I just find poetry very boring". That may be well and good, but there also might be a chance that I’m missing a big part of what it is about. Dismissing it because of what is on the surface is kind of a shame. ---
**Author:** ![Already\_in\_Use](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a9adbd/32.png) [@Already\_in\_Use](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Already_in_Use)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2003, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friends-dont-like-jazz-boo/212833/26 "2003-11-13T22:06:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Cerri \* > \*\*Sounds a lot like learning to appreciate fine wine, too. \*\* I concur. Good music is like fine wine: knowing more about it should enhance the experience, but any old schlump should be able to get drunk on it. ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2003, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friends-dont-like-jazz-boo/212833/27 "2003-11-13T22:24:44Z")
Duke Ellington said: > [@](#): > > “If it sounds good and feels good, then it IS good!” Jazz ain’t for everybody. I used to detest it. Some of it I still do, some of it I rock out to. **The Bad Plus’s** _These are the Vistas_ is a great album and I love the freeform feel of it and the covers of **Nirvana’s** _Smells Like Teen Spirit_ and **Blondie’s** _Heart Of Glass_ make it a much more accessible album. **Russell Gunn** and **Buckshot Lefonque** also do some amazing hi-bred hip-hop jazz that gives a more mainstream feel. (In other words, one doesn’t need to be a musicologist to hear the notes that aren’t being played). I immerse myself into music daily and it makes me sad that someone would eschew a whole genre based on a general conception that it’s for high-brows. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2003, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friends-dont-like-jazz-boo/212833/28 "2003-11-14T17:30:48Z")
Jazz may appeal more to the musicly educated, but it has a deep cultural basis. Some of the best jazz musicians, who can rip out those chord progressions and play licks at the speed of light, can barely read. They didn’t study the jazz style to get that good. They lived it. The people who make the “jazz sucks” comments are thinking Kenny G elevator music constitutes as jazz. There is so much more to it. It has influenced so many rock, gospel and blues musicians. That saxophone you hear echoing in the night, somehow managing to capture your lonely mood? That’s jazz. You get into Led Zeppelin? They got a lot of their stuff from Robert Johnston. That’s jazz. You like Billy Joel, Elton John, Kate Bush, Tori Amos, Ben Folds? They got their touch from jazz. ---
**Author:** ![Qburn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/bc79bd/32.png) [@Qburn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qburn)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2003, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friends-dont-like-jazz-boo/212833/29 "2003-11-14T18:34:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Knowed Out \* > **You get into Led Zeppelin? They got a lot of their stuff from Robert Johnston. That’s jazz.** If you’re talking about this[Robert Johnson](http://www.deltahaze.com/johnson/Legacy.html) (scroll down to Johnson’s legacy for the Zep reference), then you’re talking blues, not jazz. I do agree with you though, about this…maybe the OP’s friends are confusing ‘jazz’ with the aberration that is _‘smooth jazz’_ . ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2003, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friends-dont-like-jazz-boo/212833/30 "2003-11-14T18:41:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Belrix \* > \*\*Personally, I think the vast majority of admitted Jazz lovers are similar to the audiophile set - the kind of people that expect that $2500 power cords and $500/foot speaker wire make things sound better. \*\* Actually in many cases it does, at least the speaker cable part. Very tiny, but an improvement none the less. \*\* > [@](#): > > Yes - it is a rather broad brush, isnt’ it? \*\* Yep. ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2003, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friends-dont-like-jazz-boo/212833/31 "2003-11-14T19:05:59Z")
I play bass. I have for twenty years. I don’t like jazz. Even more, I don’t like jazz snobs. “Open mind on music” is the last descriptives I’d use on a couple folks I’ve met. I’ve seen variations on the opinion: > [@](#): > > uncultured dunderheads who don’t like jazz come from said folks. It’s also implied that there’s a lack of education or IQ if you don’t like jazz from said snobs. That’s not the case here. In fact, I could probably pick out more jazz artists than some of the snobs. It’s just my reaction is usually _dear god, if it isn’t the pompous assed sounds of Thelonious Monk…Joe Henderson…Sun Ra…etc._ followed by a barfing sound. (okay, I could see the barfing sound thing coming off as uncultured) ---
**Author:** ![Elza\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Elza\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elza_B)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2003, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friends-dont-like-jazz-boo/212833/32 "2003-11-14T20:08:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Gangster Octopus \* > \*\*I have two tickets to the season openng Jazz concert at the Disney Concert Hall, with Keith Jarrett, tonight and I cannot find anybody who wants to go. Why? Because all my friends are uncultured dunderheads who don’t like jazz! That’s why. They don’t like Jazz, well phooey on them! > [SIZE] \*\* Awww…it warms my heart to see people sticking up for my friends in the Pit! That’s really nice of you, **Gangster Octupus**. Especially since she’s in Florida at Disney World and can’t defend herself. Oh…this thread’s not about **Special Agent Jazz**? Well, you have to admit, the similarities are funny. You’re seeing jazz at the Disney concert hall, she is Jazz at Disney…yeah, I’ll go back to my cave now. Thanks. Ava [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friends-dont-like-jazz-boo/212833.md?page=1)