The New York jazz community came off its respirator long enough to remind critics it's still alive, kicking andready to stampout questions regarding jazz's salvation.
After critic Terry Teachout posed the question: "Can Jazz Be Saved?" it didn't take long for enthusiasts of the genre to come back with a retort.
Adam Schatz runs Search and Restore, a website devoted to following the jazz culture of the city, and was quick to point out the only good thing to come out of Teachout's essay: people were talking and writing about jazz.”I think as the mediums of reaching people with new music have dwindled, new, more modern techniques haven’t surfaced yet. So what’s happened is that as young people are coming up and getting turned on to music, the outlets for new music aren’t including jazz," Schatz pointed out in an interview with WNYC.
There's still life in the music style and an audience listening. According to Schatz and other jazz supporters, the question is not about whether jazz music is dying or not, but rather what does its future hold.
If the outcry of disdain for Teachout's essay is any indication of the genres current vitals, maybe jazz music isn't dying after all, but just terribly in need of a marketing makeover.
