i attend my jazz gigs through out the year, including promoting the music with my college Shirley Smith as coljazz promotions. but one thing we both notice is the lack of a young audiance.we have tried to bring young people to the music but find this very difficault without making it to pop ,but the straight ahead type only attracts an older audience. we sometimes put on jazz funk this will bring in some younger people .the funny thing is that so many of the new jazz musicians are so young but thy don,t bring with them a young following the only band who do is polar bear and acoustic ladyland if any one has any ideas please share them with us.

Possibly because "jazz" has lost its way with All these Conservertoire educated "musicians with their phoney passion and oh so boring PC music.
Take Dave Sanborn--Totally boring! like Kenny G also .as For the last few years--there is no originality coming from these passionless intellectuals of jazz

Thinking of the gigs I've been to that had a predominantly young audience, they were generally either at the more avant garde end (Evan Parker or John Zorn, say) or more in the '70s Miles tradition (Medeski, Martin and Wood being the obvious example). Jazz is a broad church, after all, and some styles are bound to have more immediate appeal than others.

From your (very nice) web site, I think the kind of music ColJazz promotes is a much harder sell to a young audience. Don't worry; it's OK for some styles of music to require a bit more maturity. You don't see a lot of teenagers at Bach recitals either, but as people get older and their tastes change they discover stuff for themselves that's been out there all along.

I agree with mr. Cochrane;
it's the same in my country (Croatia.
When I was getting hooked up on jazz in my teens I was pretty lonely in my musical tastes, and even nowdays (I'm in my middle 30s) I know more people who like rock and, casually, jazz (mostly of Miles Davis and John Coltrane vain) than those who have deeper interest in classical or contemporary jazz. I myself am basically a somewhat conservative jazz fan with an open ear for some types of contemporary jazz and completely closed ear for fusion...

Whilst I disagree with you about Sanborn, I will say that jazz has become a little too cerebral for its own good. Everyone wants to be a 'Miles' band or a lounge act. 'F-IRE'
Collective offer a breath of air, with Oriole,Acoustic Ladyland and Polar Bear. I think Tom Cawley of the last mentioned has one of the finest piano trios in the UK. And far too much jazz has become prohibitively expensive.

H A LYNCH

SANBORN AND G!
Hardly representative of the last few years!
You seem to be flogging a dead horse in that criticism.
Modern British Jazz has lots of excitement.
Gilad Atzmon as heard on the coljazz website has passion to spare.
Knee Deep in the North Sea by Portico Quartet as featured in the Mercury Prize is also evidence of un-PC music. What about Django Bates too?

Coljazz's website is OK but the text is a bit dry. Try getting a young person to give you some feedback on your publicity, you may be surprised at what they would need by way of extra info to entice them along.
RAFA is an excellent organisation but as a venue it already carries a "Strictly for the Oldies" image.
I know several teens and twenties people who are into Jazz but the atmosphere at many gigs is just too dull to keep them going back.

There's a big young audience for jazz across the UK...sadly however, most of them are young jazz musicians themselves.

There are loads of young jazz musicians 18-30 who are doing incredible things at the moment. You are right that there isnt a young non-musician audience for jazz...but who can blame that? Jazz is an aquired taste, and todays generation aren't going to listen to jazz en masse. There is certainly a really large youth following of jazz, but unfortunately (?) nearly all of them are musicians!

do you have any idea what you are on about? "Conserertoire educated musicians with their phoney passion and oh so boring music"?

that smacks of utter ignorance. Maybe try going to some gigs.

at coljazz gigs we try to entice an audience that is responsive to the music but at the same will listen intently when necessity. we try to make the gigs as much fun for the musician's as the audience. no one loves to shout and cheers more then me but we must show respect when need.

I think Jazz finds itself in a very difficult position these days. I'm a music student at a reputable Scottish uni, and many of my fellow students actually believe that Jazz musicians are simply playing 'any' notes, making the music a waste of time. People aren't actually taking the time to realise that Jazz does not have to be elevator music, nor a 'challenge'. More tragically, many young people completely fail to notice that artists such as 'Amy Winehouse' are essential fronting a (albeit sympathetic to pop trends) Jazz big-band. I am an adamant Jazz fan - fond of most subgenres (although not too clued up on 'free'), but short of recently seeing Emprical, I wouldn't actually have the first clue where to go to watch this great music live. Where is the Uk's Village Vanguard or Savoy?

I like to think there is a young crowd into jazz - certainly in Bristol there is with guys like Andy Kinsman, Kevin Figes and Nick Langston - have a look at www.NickLangston.com if you want some proof. I think jazz is all over the place with the likes of Duffy and Michael Buble - even if it's not the best kind. The thing that often kills it is the lack of a discernable tune - though I appreciate that may anger some jazz fans!

I agree that there are a lot of great young jazz musicians - my son is one of them! (www.chrisneill.co.uk). And I get a feeling that there is a bit of a resurgence going on, with these young musicians introducing their friends and fans to the music, and people like Amy Winehouse, Michael Buble et al getting people interested in the genre generally.

The problem I see is that a lot of the good jazz musicians around at the moment are, er, boring. I don't mean musically (although some are), but just lacking in stage presence. I have sat in quite a few gigs thinking "no, please stay off the mic and just carry on playing". My son plays with quite a few big bands, and the one which consistently gets the best crowds and best reaction from the audience is actually of the weaker ones musically ... but it has a really charismatic MD.

And I do also agree that the more avant garde jazz just scares off potential new converts - "jazz lite" will get people interested in the first place, in the same way as a piece of classical music from the adverts may get people to listen to the whole symphony for the first time.

I think Jazz audiences are a bit like BBC Radio 4 audiences. They tend to be drawn from the older part of the population. However, that doesn't mean that Jazz (or Radio 4) is dying, far from it. It means that successive generations keep "growing into" it as they get older.

The Uk's Village Vanguard? It used to be Ronnie Scott's. No longer. The Vortex in Dalston is still a great club, even after the change of venue.

As to the whereabouts of the younger audience, as well as turning up to the Vortex, there are many of them regularly filling the small one-night-a-week venues set up in pubs and bars mostly by the younger generation of musicians themselves. Try the Con Cellar Bar on St Pancras Road, The Oxford on Kentish Town Road, The Jam at Oliver's in Greenwich or Charlie Wright's on Pitfield Street, just for starters. Search for them in the listings or find their pages on MySpace for details.

All of these feature great local talent as well as putting on the occasional international star worthy of a spot at the old Ronnie's in a friendly, buzzing, enthusiastic, knowledgeable and intimate atmosphere. They have gone some way to filling the void left by the changes at Ronnie Scott's and I am very encouraged by and grateful to them for it.

Apologies for the London bias, that's just where I live. I'm sure there is much more going on outside London too.

I think to be fair he is hinting at the fact that the badly attended gigs are the ones where forthright jazz musicians will turn up and just play standards because that's what 'should be done'. I've played with many of them and I too find it very very boring, there's no creativity and there's no soul. I'm not talking about top class musicians who can do this well - Alan Barnes, Don Weller et al. Those guys are superb and rightfully win an audience every time. But there's a lot wider range of jazz than that, and as a fairly young jazzer myself, I'm always looking for that extra spark of creativity and flair - our band usually gets a fair following of young and older audience.

you are spot on to say that the lack of personality can be a problem in the jazz world.i find the most popular jazz gigs i attend nearly always have good leaders with very good banter. a jazz audence is much the same as any pop one, they still like to be entertained. jazz musicians must not forget they are still entertaners and people pay to see them play as much as listern.maybe this is way trad jazz is so popular.

I was at a jazz festival some years ago that featured mainly 'trad' (I hate that phrase) jazz performed by local bands, the lady on the door asked if I was a muscian as I was the youngest there that day, I was in my mid twenties at the time. One thing I have noticed has been the lack of west coast/east coast sounds or be-bop or even the stuff that Gerry Mulligan and Chet Baker were doing in the early fifties. Most if not all of the bands were playing the kind of jazz heard in the U.K. during the fifties which is fine, but there is a lot of really good jazz out there, it's just a case of finding it.

the young audience is alive and well and fed regularly by a very talented bunch of young jazz musicians based in manchester, they play primarilly at the excellent matt and phreds jazz club in manchesters northern quarter. They include the excellent guitarist stuart mccallum, check out his work with the cinematic orchestra and his own release echo architect, drummers myke wilson and luke flowers,piano keyboards and fender rhodes maestro john ellis,bassist john thorne to name a few

When it comes to turning people on to jazz, it's all down to exposure, and in this respect we are starved in the UK.

Anyone who listens to jazz on the net, will know that there are at least 70 radio stations pumping out jazz 24 hours a day. In the UK, we used to have 'Jazz FM' which went to the wall, closely followed by
'The Jazz' which suffered the same fate when it's sister station 'Classic FM' closed it down. As a sop this station then gave us two hours of jazz at midnight, which has now stopped. There is no one broadcaster that is treating jazz with respect in this country, so how the hell is anybody going to get to hear it, unless they go out of their way.

When I was in Sweden a couple of years ago, I went to a jazz club and was amazed at the cross section of ages in attendance. Scandinavia is far more respectful to jazz, and moreover it is taught in schools. There is too much musical snobbery in this country. Classical Music is afforded two national radio channels, whilst jazz has none. Yet, more people buy jazz records, than classical ones, so what does that tell you!

Further to Keef's comment, I agree that a charismatic persona can make a significant difference to the audience's response, especially to non-vocal jazz/improvised music which can sometimes alienate those who may feel somewhat removed from an instrumentalist's solo explorations.
Arun Ghosh, a clarinettist, is an example of an artist who successfully holds and communicates with a crowd; consistently gives a full-on energetic performance, inspires other musicians and can convert non-jazz listeners into interested parties. He has often played in venues with a true cross-section of attendees - literally from 7 to 70 yrs old, a near equal split of genders (contrary to the often over-representation of males at jazz gigs) and a good mix of ethnicities, black, white, Asian - causing one visiting jazz promoter to comment "It's not your usual jazz crowd!" in admiration.
Obviously the definition of 'jazz' is open to interpretation but if there were more performers/band leaders with dynamic stage presence, music that has elements of accessibility for 'entry-level' listening and the promotional support of the UK's few jazz/instrumental media outlets, audience demographics would surely be as broad as the nature of the genre itself.

could not have put it better myself> A jazz enthusiast since just after (the second ) W.war ....I realise that it isn't that easy for a young musician who may just wish to be"one of the boys" to make that extra effort to try to draw in and involve the audience,but I believe the effort has to be made,.Because without that effort ,hundreds or maybe thousands of potential fans are going to go through life without that joy and pleasure which an appreciation of Jazz can bring to their lives..williet

your comments remind me of one of the reasons for my early interest in Jazz,I blame a neighbour who convinced me that the female jazz fans that one was likely to meet in the jazz clubs and at concerts were much more intelligent and attractive than those to be found in Dancehalls,I swallowed this hook line and sinker and discovered it to be absolutely true...spread the word...williet

The question needs a bit more analysis. If you want to find the audience for trad, swing, bebop and the more conventional forms of jazz then its true that they are getting ever older and very few young people turn out to listen - except maybe as background to a night out.
The type of jazz that does attract a youner audience is going strong and ws referred to earlier. Try out any one of the F-IRE and Loop collective bands; go to a Polar Bear gig or watch Cinematic Orchestra; even Acoustic Ladyland; And go to any Courtney pine gig. Much of this will offend the traditionalists, but it all has strong improvised elements and its all in the best tradition of British Jazz which has always absorbed influences from our many comunities and welded them into new music.
Its alive and well - but its not Trad!

You guys at coljazz need to get out and about more. Start with a Snowboy night at The Jazz
Cafe. Camden Town packed with yoof dropping moves and shapes. Maybe this is at the heart of the matter I know plenty of serious jazzheads but come Saturday night they wanna dress up and
dance and flirt like the young have always done, and they want an up-beat tempo.

Look at the excellent Electro-Jazz Scenes in Paris, Santorini, Athens or the more eclectic Dub-jazz clubs of Munich & Berlin or the pop based De-Phazz nights in Frieberg.
plus all the Swedish musicians based in Rome,the clubs and music slightly more trad. but still dancable.

Why not contact Snowboy maybe he knows someone in your area and remember his tip
get them in with Latin beats and drop in whatever you want later.

Treat yourselves to a little trip its amazing what you'll find out, that could help
anyway good luck spreading the word.

jazz