RateItAll: The Opinion Network

The older stuff is great, and I really enjoyed playing in jazz band in high school and in college. Until I got to college, I thought all jazz was great, because we only played the good stuff. Then I started playing in a college jazz band, and I found out that a fair amount of the jazz music that came out after about 1970 or so is horrible, atonal, screeching garbage.

kinda like um here...and there,..

I love instrumental jazz. It is very relaxing and helps me fight stress during the day.

Together with baseball and the blues, this is one of the great contributions America has made to world culture.

there are some wonderful Jazz musicians and singers out there. the talent is amazing. I love listening to the instrumental pieces. and some of those singers who bring jazz to life.i could listen to them forever.

Jazz is very relaxing and smoth. I love it

I'm not into jazz all that much, but I do have an appreciation for it.

Jazz rules! I mean, come on, I challenge you to think of a song which is groovier than 'Powerhouse'...

Wow. One thing I hear a lot is, people say, "What's this with you and Jazz? What's the beef with you and Jazz music?"

I say, "Well, I really hate Jazz."

They say, "What do you hate about poor old Jazz?"

I say, "The sound. The sound that Jazz instruments make when they're being manipulated by Jazz players to the delight of Jazz respondents. I think of it as musical barf."

They say, "I don't think you've given Jazz a chance."

Well, I maintain, I haven't given suicide a chance, but. . .Well, I did give suicide a chance, but that was only because I was threatened with Jazz. You know. Jazz music.

One thing I hate is being woken up in the middle of the night, when I'm dreaming about, say, promiscuity with dignity, by a rap-tap-tappin' on my window by those guys with goatee things on their faces, saying, "Hey. Can we come in? Beano's clarinet's gettin' wet." And then they go into this sorta Gene Krupa trance. Jazz schmazz. I'm sorry; I've got to go that far. Jazz schmazz.

You know what? I'd like to declare this a Jazz-free zone, about forty miles as far as the Jazz-hatin' crow flies in any direction. Just paradise. Those guys would go to work, and it wouldn't be there.

I'm gonna ask a question. What sort of music do you think there is in hell? You know, H-E-double hockey sticks? Well, I think it's probably hateful, free-form Jazz. And in heaven? Country and Western music. The choice is pretty obvious. It's not Jazz. It's not bop-a-dop bop-be-bop-bo Jazz. What's that? A recorder or something? I'm not into it. Fuzz pedal, that's what I'm into. You know?

From Kids in the Hall

Reall jazz, I love a lot. I dont care much for the Kenny G sort of stuff. Its ok, I suppose. Its just that I tend to think of it as modern elevator music.

jazz is well amazing!!

Liza minnelli is well amazing when it comes to jazz =D

Jazz is very cool :D I like real jazz as well as contemporary jazz, but contemporary is my preference. Both types of jazz has their good and bad as well as other genres. And N0...there is nothing wrong with fusing rel jazz elements with rock, pop, r&b, classical and new age, as long as it sounds good and touches the soul. I have listened to straight-ahead jazz that didn't touch my soul at all, G! O___O That's prolly the only kind of jazz I don't care for.

Gypsy jazz yes, jazz-funk yes, the rest.. no way..sorry folks but I truly cant stand the other sub-genres. I've tried believe me, everything from the smooth jazz of Stan Getz to hard-bop. I've listened to many of the 'greats' - Parker, Coltrane, Davis, Oscar Petersson - but their music grates on my ears. Django is great, I like the solo guitar albums of Joe Pass and Martin Taylor and the funkier side of John Scofield and err..that's it.

Jazz is great for most occasions, whether it be chilling at a jazz club, or driving along the city at night. There are all types of jazz, from smooth, to classic. This is where the real talent is...

I like jazz a lot. Some jazz i really like, some jazz i think is ok...but i rarely come across jazz i don't like at all. The jazz radio station is like my safety station...nomatter what, i know whatever is on there is going to be listenable. My favorite is that funky/hip hop sounding jazz.

When i get sick of s#it on the radio sometimes, i find myself listening to jazz. It can have a calming effect on me. I like to listen to Astrud Gilberto's "The Girl From Ipenema".

My album collection is %99 jazz-and I've seen almost everybody I've wanted to see since I wandered into Baker's Keyboard Lounge-the world's oldest jazz
club-in Detroit(around 30 years ago) for 4 bucks and a beer to see the great guitarist Kenny Burrell.

Hey, where is the singer?

I like smooth and contemporary jazz over old school.

I prefer the more avante garde wild jazz. I can live without the cookie cutter Kenny G stuff.

Mostly for Swing and dixieland...I hate most modern jazz.

Swing and earlier Jazz is the best music, period.

JAzz is very soothing. It puts me to sleep sometimes and it's smooth.

Jazz is a very broad form of music.There are just so many types and styles-some of which I love and some I don't like at all.I think a lot of it is musicians music,played by great artists who can improvise with panache and incredible skill-and lots of people just aren't into it.I generally prefer the older stuff,but depending on my mood I'll listen to newer artists. It also goes well with beat poetry-another thing you either love or hate.

What is wrong with improv? UPDATE: I'd rather eat nails than listen to most of that new wave garbage, but good old swing stuff is the greatest music ever. I played a little trombone in my time and will shout out that jazz is fun to play and enjoyable to listen to. I hear its also good to dance to but my spare left foot has prevented me from finding out.

Trisec hit it pretty good on this one. While it is not my choice very often to listen to, as a musician I admire it as a truly American art form. It is also the best format for those with American music influences to come together and see how well they can play with other musicians, how well they can improvise and actually listen to the rest of the band. Most musicians play to themselves even in groups. That is the problem with most musicians. You better be able to listen in this format or go home! :)

Terrible confusing headachey stuff....

The old stuff is good but modern jazz is too wierd.

Probably the last bastion of true music there is. The only place I know of where the artist can be spontaneous, experiment, and see what happens. Most people I talk to don't seem to 'get' jazz, but that's because of the piss-poor music education most people have. Learn some scales people, and you'll quickly see that most pop tunes are repetitive and boring, and rap 'tunes' are nonexistant.

I'd rather have my arms and legs cut off, than have to listen to jazz.

Jazz is my favorite kind of music! Dixieland, swing/big band, funk, fusion, modern forms of jazz... again, we're talking about a genre with many sub-genres. I've never heard any jazz music that I didn't like! I view upbeat jazz as exuberant and slow jazz as soothing and peaceful. I cannot even begin to explain the innovative mixtures of jazz with other types of music (jazz and Latin beats go together quite nicely); that's what makes it such exciting music.

A truly wonderful genre of music. It is poetry expressed through instruments sometimes lively and sometimes somber. One of the United State's greatest cultural exports. There are so many great Jazz musicians and types of Jazz that each Jazz fan has different preferences when it comes to who they like and what category of Jazz they like to listen too.

Coltrane, Miles Davis, Charlie Parker. . .any of the classic jazz artists make for wonderful music. Jazz music is the only pure American music. Jazz fans are usually the smartest people I have ever met (small bonus.)

I'm sorry, but I simply cannot understand why everyone thinks jazz is so great. I tried listening to what's suposed to be the creme de la creme of the genre, and I couldn't stand it. While it's a far cry from rap, which differs from the racket of a wheelbarrow in that construction workers make less money, it still sucks. For me, that is. But whatever floats your boat.

One of America's truly great contributions to world culture. The fact that African Americans had the largest influence on this musical genre and that hiphop is now the cultural dominant indicates that Black American culture is in serious decline.

jazz is among one of my favorite types of music. duke ellington, miles davis, they're all good. it can be very calming and relaxing and soothing. i love to listen to it after a hard day at school and it takes me out of this crazy world for a little while.

Jazz is instrumental poetry.

When played well, jazz is a very beautiful form of music. It is just so smooth and soothing. It is also a very difficult form to play since it's mostly improvisation. Jazz is cool. I would have to say that jazz fusion is my favorite kind of jazz.