Comments

• scot Virtuoso

  November 10 Posts: 713

  There is at least one band that is doing a kind of GJ/pop blend, the Black Market Trust. They are a really good band but I don't think they are exactly hitting the Billboard charts. And their name sounds like a punk band. The last real jazz tunes I can think of that made the popular music charts were "Sidewinder" by Lee Morgan 1964 and "The In Crowd" by the Ramsey Lewis Trio in 1965, or maybe Chuck Mangione, George Benson and Kenny G.

  Historically, when niche styles of music (music mostly of interest to those who play it) become "popularized", like American folk music (Kingston trio, Peter Paul and Mary) or Irish music (Clancy Brothers, Riverdance), or blues, all the nuance and tradition goes out the window and you wind up with Joe Bonamassa. Plus, hard as it is to believe, jazz manouche just doesn't resonate for most people, even other guitarists.

  
• Phil Portland, ORModerator Anastasio

  November 10 Posts: 861

  I think this qualifies!

  https://youtu.be/-1y9Ipuv7eo?si=eWTDIpVUFF_DiHPT

  
  

  
• B25Gib Bremerton WA✭✭✭✭ Holo Busato, Dell'Arte Hommage, Gitane D-500, Gibson ES295, Eastman AR805

  November 10 Posts: 219

  Phil - Great example of a deliberate chimeric hybrid of a quality GJ track and RAP vocal? What a worthless recording!
• neebs4964 Maui, HINew Rodrigo Shopis

  November 12 Posts: 19

  My $.02. I live on Maui and we have a GJ band that consists of me, a Brazilian guitarist, clarinet and bass. The problem anywhere in Hawaii is finding gigs where the venues are primarily looking for "Hawaiiana", or music that makes tourists feel like they are on vacation in Hawaii - Steel guitar, ukulele, slack key, heavy on the vocals. But there is a good jazz presence here with different groups playing different styles of jazz - straight up, fusion, standards, bossa and us representing GJ, with some bossa tunes to round it out. We don't play resorts, just venues that cater to locals and some tourist traffic. I find that when people hear us they stick around because they like the music - it's uplifting, melodic, accessible, whatever. And we are seeing people coming back to hear us. I have never encountered anyone who says they don't like GJ music. The problem is getting them to hear it.

  
• Chiefbigeasy New Orleans, LA✭✭✭ Dupont MDC 50; The Loar LH6, JWC Catania Swing; Ibanez AFC151-SRR Contemporary Archtop

  November 14 Posts: 392

  This may sound like heresy, but I had to hear GJ played by modern players before I could enjoy the original recordings. That could be said of a lot of early recorded jazz as well, I think.

  Secondly, this music had its heyday and was the popular music of its day in some parts of the world. Whatever the combination of technology and marketing that developed over time, there is more access to music from everywhere now than there was 10, 30, 70, 100 years ago. That's not an inherently bad thing, it's just that you need education and exposure to find things that are not commercially popular.