The Game Continues: It was technology, in the 1970s, with...a candlestick?

For those that believe jazz is dead, they typically cite the 1970s as the time of death. The 70s saw the birth of a cultural revolution, the likes of which had never been seen in the US. This decade saw a number of events which would begin to shape the culture we have today. The 70s was a period marked by the end of U.S. involvement in Vietnam, the Watergate scandal and President Nixon’s subsequent resignation, Steve Jobs introduces the Apple Macintosh PC and suddenly the population finds their obsession with personal technology, and the British Invasion dominates the music scene with groups like Led Zepplin, The Who, Black Sabbath etc, as well as the birth of heavy metal. The 70s also saw the first real use of electronic music and synthesizers, and by 1976, the use of digital recording. The foundation and building blocks for the pop music of today had been laid out, all in a very short time.

In a very short time, we see the popularity of jazz give way to funk, fusion, British rock, and heavy metal. Our world becomes much faster paced, and the evolution of music gets kicked into overdrive. The “quantity over quality” mentality begins to kick in, as the sheer amount of music available grows exponentially as well as the accessibility of music due to the advances in technology. America was quickly sprinting to the digital age.

Still, I’m not convinced that the case against technology for the murder of jazz has been substantiated. Certainly I concede that the 70s brought about vast change, not only in the world of music, but reconstructed our entire culture. Technology has certainly changed the world of music more still since the 70s. Between technological innovations such as Auto-Tune and GarageBand some begin to worry that someday actual musicians will no longer be needed. Pop stars today can almost be manufactured, and after hearing some music today I use the word “almost” very generously. But there was still great jazz being made in spite of this cultural revolution. Even though jazz was being pulled into a plethora of directions, there were still those that held onto more traditional forms of the music which is so deeply intertwined in American heritage. The big bands of Duke Ellington and Count Basie were still very active and continued to play even after these legends died (1974 and 1984 respectively). Free jazz players who had made a name for themselves in the 60s such as Ornette Coleman, Sun Ra and the Art Ensemble of Chicago. The 1970s also brought about the inclusion of jazz into academia. In 1972 only 15 schools in the U.S. offered degrees in jazz studies. This number would increase to 72 in the next 10 years.

All in all, I would say that while the 70s brought about great change in music and in culture, it cannot be appropriately cited as either time or cause of death of jazz. Jazz evolved during this time, and in many ways became something new. This helped shape our culture and lay the groundwork for the music of today. Change doesn’t mean better, and it doesn’t mean worse. Most importantly though, it does not mean “dead”. The case against technology and the 1970s is hereby dismissed.