Jazz is dead. Long live jazz!

Jazz was born dying of the chained embrace of Western and African cultures on American soil, between musical beats of slaves trapped in southern cottons, the new railroad tracks and the European footprint in that American corner. With just over a century of life, it is probably the only musical genre that has matured so much and at such speed, being a style today with a planetary echo. However, and despite this, the news of his death have been constant for a long time, and there are many burials that come his way.

The journalist Nate Chinen, Helen Dance / Robert Palmer Award for excellence in writing granted by the American Jazz Journalists Association, reflects and argues about this trend in his essay, Playing Changes , whose translation into Spanish places the publishing house Alpha Decay these days, after becoming a reference text in jazz literature in the last year. Why? Because strangely and fortunately, the head contributor like The New York Times or Jazz Times throws the debate forward, not like in most of these types of publications, which only look to the past.

Playing Changes Jazz for the new century , of 368 pages and with translation by Javier Calvo, effectively addresses the current situation that jazz is going through from a musical, social, economic and commercial point of view, becoming a great portrait to understand the present of this music and the immediate future that awaits him. It will be because of his status as a race journalist, but few books such as Nate Chinen's approach to jazz health with feelings and ideas of today, and protagonists of the moment, who end up completing a vitality analysis. The publication ends with the proposal of the 129 best albums of what we have of the 21st century.

A few years ago, a certain sector of the American specialized press ignited all the alarms surrounding the death of jazz, due to the absence of creators and composers such as the Ellington, Monk, Charlie Parker, Coltrane ... "The notion that jazz is dead, or is dying, it's absurd. Look at the great amount of excellent music that is produced ... the evidence speaks for itself.But ... why do we keep hearing the misconception that jazz is dead? "Something that I wanted to achieve with Playing Changes was to show, precisely, how this crisis of confidence was strengthened, generating conditions that reduced the debate to preserve the history of jazz. At this time we have moved through that concept, and some of the most vital artists of our time, such as singer Cécile McLorin Salvant or pianist Jason Moran, show how the past can be present, with new and exciting ways. "

The skin of jazz effectively changes constantly, and in fact one of the current creative solutions is its alliance with rap and hip hop culture. "Jazz is always being renewed, providing different approaches and techniques. Hip-hop offers a scope of possibilities and has the advantage of sharing root with jazz. But the central language of jazz still thrives, even as a whole generation of creators. I used to mention Salvant, look at his usual collaborators, Sullivan Fortner and Aaron Diehl, and we will find a persuasive incarnation of that classical jazz language. "

Chinen's analysis throughout the essay is based on its protagonists, the musicians, making their reflections meat. Kamasi Washington, John Zorn, Brad Mehldau, Vijay Iyer, Steve Colema n ... Some of them, in the case of Kamasi, are marked as the great hope of jazz, adding audiences beyond the margins of the genre and touching rock's own hobbies , something that Miles Davis himself craved. "When it comes to popularity in terms of the masses, it is true: jazz cannot compete with Camila Cabello or Taylor Swift, " says the journalist, and points out. "But we have seen encouraging growth in the audience and audiences of makeshift music, thanks in part to Kamasi, Esperanza Spalding, Shabaka Hutchings and others. In jazz, a thriving subculture can inhabit and I think it is happening. Today there is an exciting energy. in the air". Then, beyond the answer, Chinen amplifies the transversal talent of musicians such as Robert Glasper, Flying Lotus, Tyshawn Sorey, Mary Halvorson, Ambrose Akinmusire or creative laboratories such as the legendary Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) or the West Coast Get Down of the mentioned Kamasi.

The author is also aware of the impact of the changes experienced in our current society, in the case of globalization: "In the last decades an evolutionary process adapted to the whole world has been observed, since musicians seek to connect the language of jazz with their own cultural experience. " Likewise, Chinen reflects on the incidence of the global economic crisis , the new record model, the emergence of new technologies ... "The Internet has had an enormous influence, but not only in the way we consume music. Most Jazz artists have had to adapt to a new cultural model, having to create their own opportunities. The good thing is that it has never been so easy to publish music or receive so much information. An example I cite in the book is that of pianist Joey Alexander, who grew up in Bali, Indonesia, using YouTube as a reference guide and as a platform. "

For Nate Chinen, then, it is clear that jazz is still alive and well, despite the conservative and conservative ideas mistakenly sustained over time. " There is a primary vitality in jazz when it is played well, since it transcends all gender conventions. In that sense, I think it is a music that brings something very vital to the human spirit, which is the best argument to achieve eternity Jazz musicians will always find a way, and music will not stop moving and evolving. "

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