(6-29-2011) When asking, "what can Jazz do to become more popular", my answer is: nothing, musically speaking.

At this point and moving forward, the language of Jazz as a unique artform is set in place. The problem is that people correlate “innovation” with “popularity.” The “smooth Jazz” idiom was a manufactured attempt to “popularized” Jazz and failed to establish any longevity as well as make any meaningful contribution to the essence of the artform. Regardless, Jazz always returns to its roots from the Blues, Bebop, swing, as well as its more progressive fusions.

The trouble in posting this questions to musicians of the artform is that most Jazz musicians are egocentric by nature. I don’t mean this as a bad thing: The “ego” plays a significant role in helping a musician endure countless hours of practicing and internalizing this artform. It’s a never ending process of musical exploration. No surprise that most of the musicians in the upper echelon that execute this artform at the highest level of proficiency have tremendous “egos.”

Why is this noteworthy to mention? Because what will make Jazz more popular is growing an “audience” for this artform. Today, it is not enough to become a proficient player and expect that people will be inspired by your performance.

Apart from the artform, what are “you” as an individual doing to grow your audience? Jazz musicians must think musically and artistically outside the box without compromising the artform at the risk of trying to create popularity.

Whether it’s an audience of 4 people, or a multitude, each individual from that audience is asking one fundamental questions: “Can you inspire me?” “Can Jazz inspire me?” Jazz as an artform already has a proven track record of inspiring millions of people worldwide. But, beyond the heritage and legacy of Jazz, each musician as individuals must do more, go beyond the music in order to capture the imagination and admiration of each person from the audience.

Jazz musicians should be concerned with inspiring “anyone” that comes in contact with Jazz; not just “fans” of Jazz. What can Jazz do to become more popular? It must inspire! And that is how you build one Jazz fan at a time.

That said, there’s a big difference between “playing” the artform and “inspiring” Jazz. What is the use if a Jazz musician is displaying immense technical prowess if he/she is not inspiring. There lays the paradox in reference to the question.

This should not be hard for Jazz musicians to do: to consistently frame your musical Jazz communication in a way that inspires. After all, Louis Armstrong inspired with simple musical phrases and melodies, no?