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The State of Jazz

I was recently listening to "The Best of Diana Krall" LP. It is an amazing album. But later, I reflected on the fact that she sang almost entirely 'standards,' which means the songs are all at least 50 years old. Then, I thought, why hasn't the Jazz Community produced any more recent songs that have become standards. Then I thought: it is most likely, that the same standards (i.e., basin street blues; willow weep for me, etc.) will be sung for the next 50 years--and I wondered, are we producing any songs today that will become standards. I don't think so. Bu, why not?
elegal
onhwy61's avatar
onhwy61
5,150 posts
 
Look up "the great American songbook". The standards arose from a specific set of circumstances that for the most part no longer exists.

I also agree with Pgawan's comments about audience preference.
martykl
3,578 posts
 
Personally, I'd look to Steven Sondheim (and a handful of others) for the "standard" songbook of tomorrow. This is the community of songwriters still working the classic elements of songcraft in IMHO interesting ways. However....

Adventurous contemporary artists (whether jazz, pop, or classical) continue to explore new avenues of expression that may or may not prove long-lived. For me, there's often joy in the exploration and I don't worry about how history ultimately views the efforts.
ptmconsulting
1,000 posts
 
There was a huge swap about 5 years ago in jazz for every "popular" jazz artist to do a standards album. Ms Krall was just one of those artists who did standards all along.

If you want to hear what is really going on in the jazz world then go hang out over at www.allaboutjazz.com

Enjoy
isochronism
2,893 posts
 
Body And Soul is historically (about) the most recorded Jazz standard.
I am listening to Tia Fuller's version on her "Angelic Warrior" album.
Dianne Reeves does the vocal on this otherwise fully instrumental album.
Music is the truest art form and Jazz is the truest representation of music to me.
isochronism
2,893 posts
 
Ptm, As a young child I feel in love with Hoagy Carmichael's "Stardust" and always said that it could not be done badly. Then there was Rod Stewart....
"Hot Leggs"??? Is anything Sacred??? A sign of the Apocalypse to me!!!
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