The jazz medium seems to attract an older demographic probably as a result of the time of its inception and peak of its popularity. More baby boomers than generation x'ers/y'ers. Trends indicate that people 40 years old and above are more likely to attend jazz events and purchase jazz records. Our culture's overwhelming fascination with new shiny products does not help either. Yet to be able to engage the youth would serve not only jazz a significant measure of good but also be of fruit for the younger generation who otherwise would miss out on an enriching cultural and historical experience. Is jazz just lost to them - a lost cause? No one being immortal, this is frightening because any part of our heritage which cannot be handed down must either die off - becoming obsolete, be assimilated into another facet of musical expression or evolve into an entirely different lifeform. Is there a future for jazz as it is?
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Support of Youth Jazz is the Real Problem
As a mom of a high school jazz musician I can assure you that jazz is alive and vibrantly played by today's youth. However, the problem lies with the community support of these young musicians and having their performances advertised, attended, and appreciated.
The jazz band at Wheeling High School is amazing. They work six hours per week all summer long and even more during the school year. Last years they were the grand champions at both the "Jazz in the Meadows" and North Shore high school jazz competitions. At the "Jazz in the Meadows" competition they beat out over 100 other high school bands. They were selected as one of only four high school jazz bands from around the country to perform in next December's Midwest Clinic, an international band and orchestra conference here in Chicago. Next month, they are applying to play at next year's Montreaux Jazz Festival.
My point is that unless you were a member of the band organization or relative, you would not know any of this information. The Tribune isn't interested (I sent them the info), the Daily Herald isn't interested, their own school newspaper did not even cover all of their accomplishments. The best they could do for their last concert was an article in a very small local paper.
The question is...how do you connect talented young musicians with those that would appreciate their talent and hard work?
Great But...
This is so encouraging I must say first of all. The youth are involved in jazz as creators and active participants as you have so passionately and rightly expressed in your eloquent post. However the problem that I was alluding to was support of such events by the youth themselves. I worry that these events are attended and enjoyed more by an older demographic. I think that part of the reason why there is no community support is that the little community support there is comes from the older demographic. As a result, advertisers tend not to delegate their attention to a younger audience because they believe that they are not as interested. Instead they focus on those who already are. This is a problem of a somewhat circular nature. But you do make a very valid point that support for jazz as a whole is a weaker than it should be. I would like to hear more of your ideas on this and you may be able to provide some insight into what could be done to this after all the true purpose of advertising and marketing should be to persuade the uninterested and uninvolved rather than those who are already of that disposition. At least in a perfect world.