ARTIST'S STATEMENT

Question

Why is the jazz genre declining in popularity among the music listeners of the newer generations?

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History & Distinction

Jazz originated in New Orleans, Louisiana after the end of the Civil War (Scaruffi, 2005). The genre first began with an emphasis to dance and specific rhythms that would lead to the various branches of styles. The heavy Creole and African-American influence began to expand the limits of jazz, and soon, bands and groups began to assemble to play this foreign sound to people across the country (Scaruffi, 2005). Something so unique about jazz is its versatility, where certain instruments can be played in specific ways that emulate a desired feeling or emotion. Even though it may be losing its popularity today, it has a deep history rooted in many different cultures and people groups.

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Approach

For this project, I listened to many different artists of different styles of jazz to narrow down a group of pieces that I would want to perform for an audience. I chose specific pieces of which represent fundamental aspects of jazz and to highlight the diversity of play styles. I went one step further and transcribed each piece into various instrumental parts to be then played by myself. I incorporated an element of recording audio to produce two performances of two different pieces.

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Audience

The main audience for my project would be the general public. More specifically, this project targets those that may not be as aware of the jazz genre or were never exposed to it beforehand. In addition, having the younger generations learn about jazz early might inspire them to continue their interest for future opportunities. This project can also be intended for those already immersed in jazz music to serve as a reminder to continue playing the genres that bring them joy.

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Impact

Even though schools do offer bands playing jazz and classical music as well, many students lose their interest before even joining these bands (Porter, 1989). I hope to spark even the slightest interest in people to explore the jazz genre and perhaps listen to famous tracks and compositions. Even if people end up not enjoying it, jazz is still something to appreciate and recognize, given its deep cultural significance and diversity in sound.