If you are in Manchester, England of a Wednesday evening check out The Indigo Bar. 460 Withington Rd. Withington, South Manchester, M20 4AN. Its a delight. You will find a weekly jam session organised and directed by saxophonist Ed Kainyek. 

This dynamic individual knows just how to keep the proceedings under control in a manner that renders his underlying firmness almost imperceptible. Instances of fourteen front-men playing sixty four chorus each do not occur. There is usually a very good house rhythm section and Ed devotes time to communicating with both the musicians and the audience. 

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Easy listening. What is its function? The first food given to babies following on from an exclusive diet of milk is normally some smooth and macerated preparation that will slip down easily. Though one has to admit that these preparations do at least have the virtue of being nutritious. Easy listening - slips down easily - but in general lacks the nutritional element.

I do of course realize that music affects people in a myriad of different ways. For example if I am in a Chinese restaurant I wince when the background music is some Cladermanish plonking. In an Indian restaurant I like to hear classical ragas though Bollywood film music can be engaging. Many French supermarkets are a delight - not only because of their product range - but sound of good jazz emanates from the sound system.

I have recently been looking at a intensively promoted stage in the career of an individual who it is claimed embodies the  - Future of Jazz. The music though competently played is without doubt sub-Kenny G. Videos and much media attention extoll the excellence of both the said individual and the music with endorsements the kind that are used to promote some new brand of cheese or similar. The reality is this is the musical equivalent of what is spoonfed to babies out of small pots.

Does it matter? I think its does. The public are encouraged to think that this is music that is both significant and iconic. It is neither. The main reason for its intensive promotion is that the marketing people think here is a bland and acceptable product out of which money can be made.

There is a tendency in some zones of the  jazz world to  devalue what can be loosely described as earlier styles. This particularly so by a certain species of jazz critic who want to proclaim that they are riding on and perhaps exclusively appreciating the crest of some new wave. Why should we not appreciate the musicians, bands and styles from all the periods that constitute the relatively short history of jazz? Novelty does not by definition  have an intrinsic value that in a sense annihilates what has gone before.

I am always interested, when catching a set of two at a stylistically diverse range of gigs, to watch the audience and try to gauge their reaction to what is being presented to them. I think we must accept that at most jazz venues really passionate enthusiasts are in a minority. We - ultra hip few  (he said jokingly) - might enjoy amusing and ingenious quotes during the course of an improvisation knowing full well that they will go unnoticed by the majority. But that  does not mean that the majority are not enjoying the music. Given a really good band and what is very important a verbal - an essential feature - and musical communication with an audience, most gigs  - whatever the style - can be a rewarding experience for both the musicians and the paying public.

I had such thoughts in mind when I caught the middle set at The Music Village last Saturday night. The band  - from The Netherlands - was Jazz Xpress. This great, tight, group of musicians, were mainly playing a hard bop repertoire. They were performing in their own right but also there to back the superb Deborah Brown. Throughout there was a level of energy and rapport that had the audience - metaphorically speaking - on the edge of their seats.

This is not just a matter of serving up what you think the audience will like. But there is a great difference between an audience who knowingly and willingly go to a Peter Brötzmann concert when compared with a more general public. Playing accessible music does not debauch the art form. Hard Bop still has much to offer. For me - assuming a high level of musicianship-  it comes across as both fresh and musically stimulating. And judging from the reluctance of the audience I was observing to vacate their seats I can only assume that they had were similarly entranced.   

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Reports from many parts of the globe and conversations with musicians give a definite impression that in general things are tough. Fewer gigs. Less money. A general malaise. I suppose it would be naive to expect that jazz should be excluded from the financial problems that continue to plague large numbers of people. Economic troughs - in a recognizably contemporary sense - in a have been a feature of life since at least the seventeenth century and so logically we can expect an upturn at some time in the future - we hope!   

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The late Red Mitchell composed and penned the lyrics for a song entitled 'Simple Isn't Easy" the title track of an album of the same name. Play: simple isn't easy

Red was a man who knew a thing or to about jazz. For there exists in the mind of those aspiring - or those perhaps wanting to aspire - the delusion that Simple = Easy.

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Ask any student within a classical music conservatory who Beethoven was and ask him or her to say something about his music and I am confident that you would receive a coherent reply. Their preference may be for the for work of Harrison Birtwhistle, Stockhousen, or maybe Steve Reich. Nevertheless I am reasonably sure they could, in the majority of instances, put together a sentence or two about the work of Monteverdi.

Contrast this with the majority of students studying at a jazz academies. If asked who Buddy Bolden was I am reasonably sure you would get a blank stare for your temerity in posing such a stupid question.

Why is this? Why do so few jazz academy students have little or no knowledge about the history of the genre they have - willingly I assume - chosen to study.

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Some years ago I was working on a web development project for an international school in Luxembourg. I was having lunch with four English ladies - parents and the school marketing team.

By way of conversation I mentioned a good friend of mine - Dutch, but living and educated in Belgium. Even in his young teens he played the drums - rather well. Completing his school studies he became a first year law student at a very ancient and famous Belgian university. So far so good !

During the summer break he attended a jazz summer in Italy. This adventure and exploration developed into him being offered a substantial bursary to become a student at Berklee. With total agreement and  support of his parents this is what he did. Winning during the course of his studies both the Buddy Rich and Thelonius Monk prizes.

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My good friend Joe Higham sent me the link to an interview with Charlie Parker that had been posted on YouTube. Most interesting because in general not having had much opportunity to listen to Bird in verbal exchanges rather than the musical variety. He comes across as being a highly intelligent and very articulate individual.

What really made me really sit up and listen was the assumption - on the part of the interviewer was that Bird had by some form of osmosis acquired an incredible technique without having to work at it. The assumption that some folk just have it their in their genes. Pick up the horn and out streams Donna Lee - no problem.

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This morning I had a sad email from California following on from my 'Jazz Clubs Worldwide September Newsletter' where I talked about the current health of the jazz scene internationally. I quote:

"Hello Peter:  I wanted you to know, in case you haven't heard, that Charlie O's Jazz Club in Southern California closed down for good on August 31,  2011.  You can remove our listing from your website.  Your message this month  strikes close to me.  The economy here in California is so bad, the jazz fans  are non-existent and add to that all of the expenses to do business in CA and you've got another jazz club gone.  All the best to you Peter and thanks for listing our club all these years, Jo-Ann"

"Charlie O's is an intimate jazz club and restaurant originally established in 1987. We have been presenting live jazz performances seven nights a week from 8 PM to Midnight since August 17, 2000". If you check out their website which is still on-line: http://www.charlieos.com/ You will that this venue presented both local heroes and major names.

This is The United States of America. The birthplace of jazz.  A music that arguably is one of the twentieth centuries most significant contributions to world culture. So why no audience ?

My own live experience of jazz clubs is limited mainly to the United Kingdom and Western Europe. In the United Kingdom in particular the thing I see almost everywhere is the lack of younger faces. Please correct me if I am wrong but talking to people with some knowledge of the United States jazz scene I do get a distinct impression that a similar situation exists. Surely this is a very unhealthy. Jazz is not some passing fancy.    

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How often do we hear proclaimed loudly by the publicists, in newspapers, in magazines, on radio, on television      " Behold the new Billie Holiday " or the linking of some rather average talent to artists  - usually dead - who really were great.

It really is astonishing what hype can and does achieve. Constant repetition drives the message in. Large numbers of people consciously or unconsciously fall in to agreement. What a joy for the marketing men who I suspect really do not in general care less about the quality of the product just so long as the  message sells tracks, album, ticket, and all the other money making adjuncts.

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To paraphrase the quotation 'I have always depended on the kindness of strangers' It is in my view a truism that jazz,has to a great extent, looked for its promotion, venues, and general wellbeing  'on the enthusiasm of individuals '.

To take the example of jazz clubs. It would be interesting to evaluate just how many were founded and run by individuals who got into it because they loved the music and the jazz life - the majority I would anticipate. Wonderful clubs such as the '606 Jazz Club' that has been active for more years than the owner - - would like to remember - or perhaps the oposite - recollection is perhaps the motivation that makes him continue promoting a style of music that rarely makes anyone rich - or even moderately affluent.

The best jazz clubs do fall into this pattern. For jazz is not the ideal vehicle for corporate ambition and objectives. Love them or hate them - many jazz clubs owners are not particularly easy individuals - the jazz loving public know who they are and quietly admire their tenacity.

The Bierodrome a wonderful venue run by the late Pol Lenders only managed to survive for less then two years after his departure. Bought by the couple of individuals, who thought they were going a turn the place into some species of cash cow, they lacked even the most basic insight into what make a great jazz club function. The punters voted with their feet. The result a very sad hole in the Brussels jazz scene.

I do know that other genres also can depend on individual enthusiasm foe the specific style of music: Classic. Opera. Rock. Country and Western. et al. The essential difference is that potential earnings are astronomic compared to what can be earned by jazz promoters and jazz musicians.

National attitudes also have an impact. What percentage of the American public really appreciate of care about the contribution jazz made and continues to make to their culture. In the United Kingdom where there still exists a solid public for jazz but sadly hardly ever attracts younger people to turn up for the majority of gigs. This in itself is interesting and poses a question. Most will tell you that younger people in the United Kingdom  do not like and are not interested in jazz. Yet a couple of weeks ago I went, for the second time, to a very well organised jam session held in a bar in the heart of a student quarter of Manchester. The place was heaving and listening. 'Thank you for the music' said one young couple to me at the end of the gig.

So what place does jazz have in a given national conciousness ?

My very good friend the late Pol Lenders was honoured by the commune where he lived until his death by the naming of a street after him. I think we will have to wait a long time before we see a 'Ronnie Scott Street, London WI'. 

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It has become a familiar sight. At  jam sessions - forgivable - perhaps. On gigs - not so acceptable - just my opinion. What am I referring to ? The array of one or more Smart Phones being used to display the Real Book. Propped up on the music stand of the piano. The bass player his eyes glued to the screen. A horn player squinting at a distance.

Why not you might say. Why not indeed. Calculators have removed the necessity to learn basic arithmetic. Chords on a Smart Phones are removing the motivation to actually learn a specific chord sequence.

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A few days ago I was doing some research on the Internet to collect material for a linguistics project I am developing with and for a colleague who is based in Stockholm.
The project concerns 'Intranslatable Words' and the website www.lagomsisu.com provides the web presence for the book 'Lagom Sisu Mañana'  written by John Alexander AB.

Allied to this project is another new website: Sounds Unfamiliar: www.soundsunfamiliar.com
This site presents examples of Classical and Folk music from what is intended to be as many countries of the world as possible.

Looking on YouTube at Peking Opera I came a across a truly astonishing video of the seven year old Taoyang Wang. Even if you are not familiar with Peking Opera - maybe you find it difficult to like or appreciate - you would still be impressed by the effortless virtuosity of this small boy.

How does, one might ask, a small child of seven years of age, acquire a mastery of what is a incredibly and demanding art form? Watching the video you will see mastery, poise, a seriousness of purpose that transforms this child into something quite remarkable. At the end of the video, when he is being spoken to by the presenter of the television programme, Taoyang Wang becomes once again a small boy with the voice and demeanor of a small child.

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