Ted Gioia: The History of Jazz

Writers on jazz and lovers of the music need to be like Duke. Let us cherish the past, but not at the expense of the present or future. We too should be thinking about the next composition, the new guy in the band, tonight's concert, tomorrow's rehearsal.

And, also like Ellington, we need to "love them madly." Our music was created with passion. This same passion and love for the music must always permeate our efforts. It may seem like this hardly needs to be said. Yet it does. On the one hand, the jazz world has become too prim, too deferential, too musty. On the other extreme, we have a contingent who embrace jazz as a hip attitude, a way of posturing. I say: let our love for the music be the core value we espouse. Sometimes it may be tough love, at other times it will even be blind love, but the amorous strain must never be lost.

In short, let a thousand flowers blossom. We need to set an example for the next hundred years. And if we are vigilant enough in doing this, then jazz will truly be back.