JAZZ, THE GREATS, AND ALL THAT JAZZ

Every time I talk to one of those knowledgeable older music gurus smoking outside in-between sets at venues, I always revisit this question: Am I supposed to like all of the great classic bands?
I can dig a lot of music, but there are some famous talented musicians I just don’t listen to. For example, The Eagles has created numerous meaningful songs, has one of the highest grossing shows of all time, and has a dedicated group of fans, but the only song I’ve ever liked by it is “Hotel California.”

Whenever I admit I don’t like them, I get a shit storm of “Dude’ and “What?” And then they drop me down a few notches in the knowledgeable about music category.

An even better example is Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters and formerly Nirvana. I love Nirvana—I could listen to it nonstop if I didn’t have shit to get done—but the only Foo Fighters album that has really plugged into my brain is the self-titled first album. Plus, I really like the Foo Fighters’ personality, humor, philosophy, and contribution to the music world, but I just can’t get into the sound.

Recently the Focus editor Adam Blair and Editor in Chief Bryan Smith have been trying to get me into jazz after I let slip out that I don’t really like jazz. They told me to listen to some really talented musicians like Thelonious Monk, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Billie Holiday, and Django Reinhardt, but I’m having a hard time keeping them playing on my headphones. There is no doubt that these guys are talented, but I just keep thinking about other music on my playlist that I could listen to instead.

Jazz lovers like this can get extremely annoying, especially if you work with them. I could act like an ungrateful spoiled brat and keep whining about how I don’t like jazz like I don’t like brussel sprouts, but if no one pushed other people to listen to different types of music then all I’d listen to would be whatever my parents listen to, which is worse than brussel sprouts.

This isn’t the last of my pursuits to listen to jazz or any of the greats. I’m going to keep giving it more chances to latch on to my simple white trash brain, but for now more aggressive, moodier, and energetic music dominates my music listening.