Why Doesn't Contemporary Jazz Get Any Respect?


I am a huge fan of Peter White,Kirk Whalum,Dave Koz,Warren Hill,etc.I have never understood why this flavor of music gets no respect.Not only is it musically appealing,but in most cases its very well recorded.Any comparisons to old jazz(Miles Davis etc.) are ludicrous.Its like comparing apples and oranges.Can anyone shed some light on this?Any contemporary(smooth)Jazz out there?I would love to hear from you. Thanks John
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from my understanding jazz is basically the original era of king oliver and satchmo and the like. every era after this actually has name associated with it whether it is big band, bop, hard bop, fusion, smooth etc...
12-23-10: Coltrane1
Wow, what a great post from 8 years back that avoided me until today.

I find it extremely interesting that not one contributor to the post mentions that Jazz, like it or not, IS considered America's only true art form.

Maybe not in this forum but here is an excerpt from my PFO Product of the year award, as posted at Music Matters Jazz.

I wrote that exactly...

http://www.musicmattersjazz.com/critics.html#13
Well, I know it's a touchy subject, and perhaps too heavy to get into here, but one can't help but wonder what place jazz would hold amongst the American public if its legacy was laced with predominantly white artists as opposed to black artists. I'm not suggesting the best players are all black, for there have definitely been great contributions by white players as well. However, it's a valid question one has to ask themselves for the facts of history reflect these cats were discriminated against whilst creating this art form. Gillispie and Parker were known to title specific songs in protest of the racism of the times. Ornithology was one such example.
Kudo's to you Albert. It's always refreshing to observe the truth in print. Hot system there too. Whewwwwww, doggie!
An interesting thread. I would suggest that saying jazz is considered America's only true art form makes one question the definition of 'art form'.
Among music, bluegrass and musicals are certainly also native to the United States. The problem with most other 'art forms' is that if you define them broadly enough, like 'painting', the USA is obviously too young a region. If one goes more detailed, there are plenty.