Jazz began as a live soundtrack for East St. Louis brothels and accompaniment for New Orleans funerals. Along the way it has engendered jive-talking hep cats, bongo-drumming beatniks, freeform fusionists, soulful mood-setters, and global groovemeisters. As a 20th-century creation, it still isn't an "old" form of music; young lions have always been part of the jazz scene. And yet, somewhere in the process of becoming "America's classical music," jazz somehow became identified with snooty purists, uptight sit-down shows, and audiences... More >>>