Have you seen the headline? Jazz is officially the least popular genre of music in the United States.
Quite obviously, there’s nowhere to go but up for jazz.
And while I don’t see jazz supplanting mainstream pop anytime soon, its status as the music nobody listens to anymore is bound to give it an appeal to alternative-leaning, rebellious kids. Give it another decade and jazz is going to have a stunning comeback.
I think there’s this idea that in the post-rock era a predominantly instrumental style can never be popular again, but if you look at the recent rise of electronic music it proves otherwise. EDM may well be the force that helps propel jazz back into the public consciousness. The jazz of the next generation probably isn’t going to sound like Ellington, but the genre isn’t going to die out either.
Photo: Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers
Check this out: “Jazz and EDM are meeting on the dance floor”
http://www.popmatters.com/wire/162673-jazz-and-edm-are-meeting-on-the-dance-floor/
Jazz’s greatest attribute is its ability to change and move with the times. The old, simple rag time version is now part of EDM and quite interesting. Thanks to sampling and companies like Loopmasters and DanceMidiSamples, not to mention to mention FL Studio, Logic and other smaller DAWs, jazz is rising from the ashes to find its way back. Jazz is like that classic black suit, It never goes out of style, you just have to find a different tie.