(Aug 31 2025) What Role Does Jazz Play In Today’s Society?

I’m back! Over the last week I was able to take a trip to DC and NYC and get my hands on a lot of handwritten manuscripts by people like Duke Ellington and Fletcher Henderson. It was all a bit of a whirlwind and now the real job starts, going through all of the documents and trying to make some sort of sense out of it all. Unfortunately, both my wife and I got hit by some kind of sickness, probably thanks to the various flights we took, which made the trip that bit more chaotic and also caused the delay in this entry. Luckily we are now starting to feel a bit better. 

After pondering for a number of days on what to write about this week, yesterday I had the chance to go to PAX West, a large gaming convention in Seattle, thanks to snagging a free ticket from a good friend of mine who was playing at the event. While not necessarily associated with the event, the 8-Bit Big Band was performing at a local theatre, and as such many of the discussions of the day revolved around music in video games as well as the place of jazz in today’s society. So I figure that might be a good topic to sit out on for this entry and one that seems to be quite relevant for the time we live. 

For those of us who choose to forge a path as a jazz musician in the 21st century, it can be quite difficult, especially if we don’t really know what role jazz plays in the greater society around us. I accidentally fell in love with jazz in high school when one day I got asked to come fill in for one of the school’s big bands. I didn't really know what I was doing but thanks to the encouragement of the director Dave Palmer, that one rehearsal was a turning point which led me down the road I’m currently travelling. In the coming years I immersed myself in big band recordings and ran a number of my own ensembles, always trying to play as much as possible. However, only being a teenager I never really took a second to contemplate the place any of the skills I was learning had in today’s society or how I might be able to leverage them to actually make a living. It would be a number of years before I finally had to face those questions, when I was stuck back at home after graduating from university with a maxed out credit card, no job, and a whole bunch of skills that seemed to have no relevance to those around me. It definitely was a low point which took many months to get out of.

Slowly I was able to piece together a career out of a hodge podge of opportunities. A string of part time jobs followed by a few gigs and writing opportunities as well as teaching a lesson here and there. After about two years, I finally took a leap and tried a different approach with bringing a number of international artists to Melbourne for an educational endeavour. It was this specific project that revealed to me something no one had seemed to mention before, that the true value of jazz in today’s society is in education. In my naive 23 year old brain, I had focused on utilizing the artists with performances more than educational outreach, yet when I looked back at all of the events I programmed for the trip, the ones that returned the most were the school workshops and professional development seminars. And it wasn’t even close. In one day I had made more from one workshop than an entire week of concerts.

Somewhere along the way, most likely in the late 1950s and early 60s, jazz started transitioning out of the popular music sphere and into the classroom. Almost identically following the transition of the wind band in the 20s and 30s. By shifting from the medium of entertainment to education, the model of how to utilize one's skills changed completely. While there is still some value in performance, the vast majority of the industry is now caught up in both secondary and tertiary education, and with the rise of social media, a third category of digital education is slowly becoming a prominent force too. Even though I had real world experience showing me this was the case, it wasn’t until I was having dinner with a member of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra in 2021 or 2022 when it all started to make sense. I had asked what the finances looked like for the concerts the ensemble puts on in NYC and to my surprise, even fully sold out events lost money and were only possible through external funding. It was at that moment that I realized that if that was the case at the highest echelon of large ensemble jazz, then it wasn’t going to be any different elsewhere on the totem pole.

Being a lover of live performances, this realization really rocked me to my core. However, being incredibly stubborn I also pursued other avenues just in case I had missed anything along the way. Fortunately, a few presented themselves as just as viable as education. Over the last decade I’ve been able to program close to a thousand shows, covering a wide scope of repertoire and themes. By doing so, I’ve realized that jazz today is primarily associated with both nostalgia for a time that has since passed as well as a stereotypical image of the early 20th century. The shows that performed the best were those that most closely resembled that image, such as tribute shows to Sinatra or other famous bandleaders of the swing era like Benny Goodman. This also seems to be reflected in the type of jazz depicted through film, TV shows, and even video games today. Alternatively, the other discovery was to follow in the traditions of past generations and simply put a jazz interpretation on popular songs of today. There is a reason artists in the first half of the 20th century played the music of Tin Pan Alley over their own originals, it’s what the public liked, and the same concept still reigns true a century later. 

By producing so many shows I had one final realization, that people these days want an experience more than just a show. The music market is oversaturated and the value of music alone is at its lowest point in human history. However, the value music adds to an experience is extremely high. Just think of how much a soundtrack adds to a movie. In many cases it can make or break the entire experience. While I’ve only been spending the last few years exploring this approach, it has already yielded the best results. Instead of just thinking about the music you are performing at a gig, think about the atmosphere you want to create. How does the venue tie into the overall experience? Does the set list compliment the tone of the show? How will you interact with the audience to make sure they are encapsulated in the entire experience? Does what you wear have an impact? As we travel further away from the heyday of jazz, I think the idea of experience will play the largest role in how successful musicians are at leveraging their skills to make a living.

These are the main ways I’ve found jazz to be relevant in today’s society but that doesn’t mean there aren’t more, I just simply haven’t come across them yet in my life. There will always be a few select individuals who are able to break through the cracks, usually only for a small amount of time, and make a living purely from finding an audience who resonates with their music. However, for me that hasn’t been the case (yet!). One thing that I think we can all agree upon is that forging a path as a jazz musician is difficult. All we can do is try and know that a life pursuing the arts is a valid option that makes the world a better place to live in.

Thanks for taking the time to read this entry. I’m looking at possibly running a few free zoom sessions covering jazz arranging techniques in the coming months. If there’s something you’d like help with or are interested in learning more about, let me know by replying to this email and I’ll look at organizing a session covering the topic.

Until next time,

Toshi