Jazz

I'm working on the Jazz collection right now. I've noticed that Latin Jazz and 'American' Jazz seem to be separate animals. I've wondered about this. Why? Recently I've been listening to Tito Puente, Cachao, and Eddie Palmieri and these guys are fantastic musicians and the Jazz is first rate. I know that it was a fusion of Latin Jazz with American Jazz that resulted in Bebop but it wasn't until the last week or so since I've been researching Jazz that I realized that it's the spiritual/blues roots of American Jazz that differentiate American Jazz from Latin Jazz. Both American and Latin Jazz have African Roots and it was the mixture of African, Latin, and American musical influences that led to Jazz but the main difference between the two is the lack of blues influence on Latin Jazz. Listen to Tito Puente. It's just more upbeat and happy.

I'm still researching early Jazz. But it's popularity was that it was dance music. I think Jazz lost something when it morphed into Bebop and Cool Jazz. The music is fantastic, but you almost need to be a sophisticated listener to get it. Sort of like when Rock moved on to Progressive Rock and lost the dance beat. Then it got stomped by New Wave and Punk. I'm probably wrong. It's early in the morning and I'm just musing.