Miles Davis,extreme Jazz and the death of Jazz

As Mark Twain said upon reading his obituary in the morning paper, "The reports of my death have been greatly exagerated." We constantly hear this "Jazz is dead." hooey. But American Classical Music, as it has been called, is vibrant, alive and flourishing. It can be heard bending the strains of rock in such bands and Medeski, Martin and Wood and it can be heard in straight ahead traditional forms reinterpreted and fresh sounding. Try Kurt Rosenwinkel's "The Next Step" with the awesome Mark Turner on tenor sax. Like the best jazz, Mingus and Rashaan Roland Kirk come to mind, it looks back and pays homage to past jazz traditions while also ushering the medium into a new future. And that future is bright with a whole new generation of young lions ready to take jazz further than before. The big question mark is will the record companies and record buying public support the recorded works of these artists? If the answer is no, you'll just have to catch the act at the corner club. But I am far more optimistic than that. Jazz is here to stay!

Miles Davis and Mahavishnu John McLaughlin are the last greats.There is no one on the horizon.

Some say that David Brubeck may have influenced Miles ... can't say, but Brubeck is still alive and kicking. Innovation since Miles: Look at Corea, Passport, Barbieri (sp?), Weather Report (and those are over a decade old) ... I'm sure there are more, but I've been trying to build my collection of older talent first. I'm not a scholar of jazz, but I do study people -- there may be lulls, but there are never ends to innovation. Of course, the appreciation of innovation requires an audience who accepts and appreciates change (that is a constant struggle for me and I both recognize that and strive to embrace it).