One of the true masters of playing in this style that I love to listen to is Aubra Graves. There is a channel on YouTube where you can listen to Aubra play dozens of great tunes.
Wonderful to be introduced to such an incredible player! Such a beautiful tone, masterful melodic phrasing with intent and feeling. Obviously this is the accumulation of years of playing but I think some are able to convey emotion better than others.
I think in this age of social media 'boosting' musicians careers (Instagram, YouTube etc) there's a need for the emerging player to stand out from the crowd, appeal to his jazz peers and show a virtuosity that can help them generate further income, through online lessons, downloadable content etc. This seems to preclude the type of playing by Aubra Graves which I think is a great shame.
Is the clinical, highly technical tutoring of jazz a natural progression of the genre, coupled with the above mentioned social media 'effect', something we should embrace as natural progress or is it potentially alienating the general public? Is this transition only natural, given that the early gigging and learning style of the past greats was so organic and more physically social than it is now, and often under repression and hardships.
These past conditions can't be recreated (and many aspects shouldn't be), but essentially I believe any creative individual is at their best when drawing on emotion and using it to fuel their output. I think a collective, organic and less clinical approach is needed. But everyone has to earn a living so the balance is tough! We don't all want to sound like the 'Chosen One' to make a living.
