[Harp-L] Jazz

[Tom Costelloe <tom_costelloe@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

I was just trying to initiate some debate about what Jazz means today. 
   
  George Brooks differentiates between Swing (which he plays) and Jazz (which he doesn't).  Wasn't Swing a kind of Jazz when Benny Goodman et al. played it?  Do/did Stride Pianists for e.g play Jazz at all?  I love lots of old Jazz Fats Waller, Art Tatum, but is it still Jazz according to a modern definition? 
   
   I'm in no way trying to say that Jazz on the diatonic is impossible or that I haven't heard any, and I love some of the playing of Howard Levy and many of the people who have followed him.  It seems to me that Jazz as a technique is in opposition to classical music which broke away from its own traditions in the late 19th century and abandoned improvisation (more or less).  So for me, Jazz is about improvisation, and the framework doesn't matter, Bill Monroe could be playing Jazz on his mandolin if he is improvising over the chords, even though he doesn't play tunes that many would consider Jazz... But here i am talking about Jazz as a technique, not as a style...  I suppose the question is when is a great improviser a great Jazz improviser?
   
  Thanks, Tom Costelloe

		
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