Is Latin Jazz On It’s Deathbed? A Need To Reach The Younger Generation
Recently Jazz.com’s Ted Gioia reflected upon the NEA’s study about U.S. participation in the arts, more specifically the public’s participation in jazz. In many ways, Gioia’s findings were grim, due to the fact that the jazz audience is becoming increasing age-lopsided. The figures show an older audience loving jazz, and the high school and college age public dismissing it. This leaves the possibility of a very small jazz audience in ten to twenty years. A strange fact, considering, as Gioia laments, jazz appears in numerous high schools and colleges. Add the fact that jazz artists do collaborate with colleges and high schools sporadically, and the problem becomes further compounded. While this lack of attention from the younger crowd doesn’t signal the death of jazz in the future, it certainly will make things more difficult.
I don’t have concrete evidence that this applies directly to the Latin Jazz audience, but I would assume that numbers are similar. It’s an issue that we should consider; I would love to know that Latin Jazz would be readily available to my grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and beyond. In order to address this fact, we need to recognize the issue and then start looking at solutions. Why is the younger audience missing the Latin Jazz boat? It would be easy to blame Hip Hop, television, video games, Facebook, or other cultural diversions, but I think that there’s a more direct reason. Rather than looking at all the things that young people are doing to take their attention away from Latin Jazz, how about looking at what we – artists, fans, journalists, promoters – are not doing to include them.
Young people are sharper than we think, and they have the ability to appreciate Latin Jazz on many levels. In many cases, young people find themselves overwhelmed by mass media and they gravitate towards their exposure. Most young people simply need an exposure to Latin Jazz and they need to understand why it’s important. They need to see passionate involvement in the music and feel the compassion behind the music’s creation. There’s no need to make artistic concessions to youth – we don’t need a hip hop version of “Ran Kan Kan” or an electronica remix of “Tin Tin Deo” – keep the art pure. Many young people will respect this honest expression of art; they many not all become lifelong fans, but you can bet that some of them will begin on that path.
That initial exposure to Latin Jazz starts young people on the right track, but it’s the repeated visits that make a difference. In my work with high school students, I’ve found that young people often enjoy Latin Jazz and a first exposure leaves them excited. Some of them even want to hear more, they simply don’t know where to find it. We need to make it easier to track down the music and include it in their lives. Maybe we should place Latin Jazz in areas that young people may find more accessible, places where they already consume music. Here a couple of ideas:
Get Latin Jazz Into Video Games
Young people get exposed to a massive amount of music through video games – and it sticks. Maybe artists, fans, publicists, and managers need to be advocating for Latin Jazz placements in video games. The music can certainly work in a variety of virtual environments, and there’s even precedent. Irakere’s “Anunga Nunga” appeared in Grand Theft Auto while “Bacalao Con Pan” and “Baila Mi Ritmo” popped up in a Scarface game. These songs showed up among a variety of other genres, exposing a new audience. Latin Jazz could be the soundtrack for a full game; a Latin Jazz artist simply forms a relationship with a video game company and writes the soundtrack for their latest game. On many levels, creating a video game soundtrack is similar to writing a movie score. A Latin Jazz artist could gather a collection of diverse Latin Jazz recordings to reflect the action in different scenes or they could write a completely original score. Could you picture a game fueled by music from one of the Latin Jazz world’s great composers – maybe a score by Elio Villafranca, Dafnis Prieto, Paquito D’Rivera. That might inspire me to get a Wii! Nate Chinen recently mused about a jazz version of Guitar Hero – why not? It could be truly amazing, and it could change the whole musical landscape of our genre.
Use Latin Jazz Ringtones
Young people are firmly attached to their cell phones, and they use them in a variety of ways; a phone becomes much more than a simple communication device, personalization allows a distinct statement of identity. Still, phones are small pocket devices – how do you share a personal statement with the world? Through ringtones of course. When your phone rings, you share a specific sound with the world. I did a quick browse of the iTunes store today and easily found ringtones from Tito Puente, Ray Barretto, Eddie Palmieri, and Mongo Santamaria. The material is available, now we just need to make it accessible. What if Latin Jazz artist offered free ringtones to anyone that visited their website? If the song was catchy enough, you’d bound to have some people download it and walk around town with a Latin Jazz ringtone. Even if we all changed our ringtones to a Latin Jazz tune, it would make a difference. A ringtone is a representation of self-identity and young people notice these details. If anything, your Latin Jazz ringtone could peak someone’s interest and serve as a conversation starter. My guess is that it would inspire people to check out the full version of the song and more!
Get Latin Jazz Artists Using Social Networks Effectively
Almost every U.S. high schooler has a Facebook in 2009, many still have a MySpace, and some inhabit Twitter; it’s absolutely essential that Latin Jazz artists find a place on at least one of these networks. Young people are spending hours on these sites and it’s an open invitation to communicate with them. In reality, a number of Latin Jazz artists have established MySpace & Facebook sites, and I do see some on Twitter. What a good number of artists miss about these sites is the piece that makes them work though – they are all about being social. Simply listing dates, sending out endless messages about your album, or building a page and then never updating it defeats the point. Social networks are really an opportunity to connect with people that love your music and people that are new to your music. It takes a little bit of time, but if you find a way to work it into your life, it can really provide a good pay-off. Spend an hour everyday being personal and interactive online and you’ll find a good number of young people appreciating your music.
Get Young People Involved In the Promotion Of The Music
The power of community drives people in many facets of their lives, and it’s a major motivator in the music world – your fans are your biggest promoters, so get them involved in the promotion of your music. Young people often watch Jazz artists from the outside; Latin Jazz can be more inclusive due to dancing, but for the most part, it faces the same issue. Bringing young people into the inner workings of the Latin Jazz world in a real and authentic way puts them on the inside. Let them be part of your team and they will find a new dedication to your music; for some of them, they may find a new desire to explore all of your music. You’ll be doing so much more than reaching out to a few young music lovers, you’ll be creating a meaningful investment in your music.
Rock and pop artists have employed the power of the street team for many years, and this is a place where jazz artists could learn a lesson. Many high schools and even middle schools with music departments have jazz bands and each group includes a minimum of one or two fully invested students. Latin Jazz groups could contact schools ahead of performances in these towns and get those one or two kids on board. They could place posters, make announcements on their Facebook pages, and place announcements in school bulletins. Most importantly, they could recruit their friends into support of the band and build relationships with a wide group of young people. Each young person that supported the band could get a free MP3 or access to a special page on the artist’s website. The student that recruited the most young people onto the team could get a free t-shirt, a phone call from the artist, or a free concert ticket. If an artist recruits 10 young people onto their team in 10 different cities, that’s a potential expansion of 100 young people into their fan base – a minimum figure that could expand dramatically over the years.
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There’s most likely not an easy fix to this issue, and we’ll probably need to experiment to find practical ways to bring the younger generation into the Latin Jazz community. Many of these ideas involve a little more work, and they do cut into our most valuable asset – time. Still, we’ve got to view an honest outreach to young people as more than extra work that eats our time in the here and now – it’s an investment in the career of each Latin Jazz artist and the future of the art form.
These ideas are a starting point and its all talk for now; we need to get the conversation going. So throw out your ideas here in the comments and let’s brainstorm a practical way to bring the younger generation into the Latin Jazz world!
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Check Out These Related Posts:
Weekly Latin Jazz Video Fix: Chase Morring & The Latin Connection
Celebrating Women In Latin Jazz: 5 Top Female Artists
Latin Jazz Photo Album: Bobby Sanabria & The Manhattan School of Music Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra
12 More Female Artists That Rock The Latin Jazz World
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