Is jazz a four-letter word?

SESSION: Is jazz a four-letter word?

Convener(s): Rick Finlay

Participants: Rick Finlay

Summary of discussion, conclusions and/or recommendations:

I ended up bumble-beeing to issue “What are we worth?” so the following is just my thoughts alone.

I think often about this issue of the word jazz and whether it is serving us well and what it means in our culture.

Jazz as a label is in my view becoming damaging to the jazz community because it is becoming indelibly associated with a particular notion of jazz, rather than the multi various animal it actually is.

The printed press about jazz is too conservative, and that’s what the word jazz means to many.

I find the word jazz more of a straightjacket than a help, and it leads to insularity and conservatism. Either we reclaim the word in a broader sense, or we distance ourselves from it and become “musicians” not “jazz musicians”.