Would jazz be better off if it went to vocational school, instead of going to college with Dave Brubeck?

Now the jazz world is full of these academics who think their college degrees give them some sort of credibility, who play and talk about it with great intellectualism but little feeling. But feeling is what it's all about. I mean, it's music, not chess.

I come across a lot of educated geniuses that can play but just don't get it, I would rather play with a guy that gets it other than a music college graduate that doesn't

The best way to learn jazz in my opinion, is to get a good teacher and enter the real world of jazz. College is fine but the institutions that control the music control what goes in and come out and a lot of very talented jazz college graduates end up sounding the same. They study the same musicians, learn in similiar styles ect. I think jazz musicians should study the masters but should come up with their own style of improvisation.

I learned how to improvise and compose on my own. You can be creative without taking courses and just read a comprehensive book on jazz history.

That is what happened to jazz and classical music, the music institutions sucked the life and creativity out of those genres. Now there are many good programs that teach music the right way but the people with money who do not know a thing about the way music should be played are controlling the arts scene.

Jazz musicians need to continue push the envelope in their compositions in terms of creativity so that jazz can have a bright future. You have jazz cats in Europe who are experimenting with different sounds so that jazz can take on different forms.

I think that jazz should be taught outside of the classroom and more hands on in the real world. College is great and if you have a chance to study in a good jazz program, I suggest that you do it. Just develop your own unique creative voice.

Someone asked me once to teach them jazz drums. I told them, "If you know the difference between a computer and a drum, you already know too much." I still stand by that wisdom of the ages.

Jazz being taught in music colleges come from Jazz musicians greats who did not go to music college.Did Louis Armstrong go to music college? Hell no nor did Charlie Parker go to music college. Ironic isn't it that great Jazz players who never went to college like Charlie Parker and Louis Armstrong two of the most highly regarded Jazz artists of all time were completely uneducated by todays college standards.They had a passion and a will to develop there music to the high point they took it to that colleges study their ways of making Jazz!

Jazz would not have grown if it had not stretched out academically. You have to learn new things to do new things. Louis Armstrong is great but we already had one--why not try something new?

In order to get Miles Davis, you have to send someone with Louis Armstrong's genius to college and let them spend a couple years poring over classical music scores. Louis Armstrong could never have made an album like Kind of Blue, and aren't you glad Kind of Blue exists? (I know Miles Davis dropped out of Berklee, but he WENT there, and his academic experience did inform his music.)

Besides, most of the academic jazz men I know are full of intellectualism AND passion. I have seen amazingly moving performances from multi-Ph.D college professors. Which performers are you talking about who are so soulless?

The arguement trying to be made is that you could take two artists, give one a palette of 16 colors, give one a palette of 16 million colors and tell them to paint the same picture. The artist with 16 colors, if they are truly an artist can paint just an effective picture as the artist with 16 million. Thats why theres really no difference between going to school and not.

I Left school because they wanted me to learn stuff that has absolutely nothing to do with jazz. I dont need to know shankarian theory and analysis to play over giant steps. The are major flaws in a the academics, but I do believe some of it is necessary. Just dont try and teach a jazz major classical theory, there is no point, they will never use it, it is just there to make the music department more money off the jazz majors. Classical majors dont have to take jazz theory! Thats like buying a $5000 gaming computer just to surf the net. Un f-ing necessary

They say etudes are for technique, but I get my technique from practicing ridiculously hard jazz lines and lines I create. School doesnt allow you to be creative. Period.

Just like height, you cant teach "feel", you have it or you dont. I say this because 'feel' is one of those 'senses' like 'taste' and 'smell' which are different for every person.