Hi all, I was chatting with another musician recently about AI and attention spans, and whether people are actually going to stay interested in music that takes a bit of concentration, like jazz. There’s this idea that people don’t really have the patience anymore to sit through a gig, or even to learn how to play it properly. But I had a bit of a different experience the other night. I was at a local gig I’ve been putting on for a while and it was a real mix of people. Some clearly just trying it out, others who already love jazz. And people were properly listening. You could see that curiosity, almost like they couldn’t quite believe this kind of music even exisits in the way it does. It was three musicians in their 20s, trio with no drums, playing quite deep material. Monk, Tadd Dameron, things even a lot of jazz musicians don’t really know. They were completely in their element, playing quite hard music, listening to each other and really going in on the improvising. At one point a singer got up, and later a bassist from the audience joined in aswell. From the audience side you felt quite close to it. It felt like a real glimpse into what this music actually is. Community, dedication, and things happening in the moment. It made me think this is something AI just can’t really touch. That doesn’t mean it won’t affect things, but being in a room like that, hearing people take risks and react to each other… it’s just different. Also made me think how niche this all is. Jazz is already quite small, and jazz violin even more so. No one is asking us to do this. We’re doing it because we’ve found something in it. Kind of bonkers really, but I think it’s a good example of what makes us human. Would be interested to hear if anyone else has had similar experinces recently

It’s a common path; Play violin. Hear Grappelli. Get into Jazz Etc etc Interested to hear people’s paths that differ from this to some degree. I’d say I fall pretty much into the Grappelli camp but have ended up all over the place now when it comes to the styles I play and listen to.

I used to run a podcast called “The Jazz Violin Podcast” I started it because I wanted to hear interviews with my favourite jazz violinists but at the time (2015) there was nothing out there. Jazz violinists often have an interesting journey into the music and I wanted to know more. So I recorded on episode a month and ended up interviewing some of the worlds best and most famous jazz violinists. They are all available for free on all podcast platforms. There are a few on YouTube too. Check out my first episode with Tcha Limberger!

“Jazz Long Playing” (a play on words based on Jean Luc Ponty’s initials was Jean Lucs first recording as a leader. It was probably the first real bebop violin albums and it was his way of showing world “hey look, the violin can do this too”. Jean Luc was at a prestigious classical conservatorie in Paris when he was young. Back then the world wasn’t so open and his classical teacher forbid him from playing jazz. He still did it but had to keep it secret or he would lose his place at the conservatoire. Check out a great track from the album here.

I just came across this amazing Polish jazz violinist - Michal Urbaniak - Michal Urbaniak Kind Of Blues in Chicago Chopin Theatre What a guy!!