What is Jazz?
"This question has been asked since the term was first used in the early twentieth century, with no answer ever capturing the enigma that is jazz. Perhaps the great Louis Armstrong was correct when he said, 'If you have to ask, you'll never know.'
One thing that's certain is that jazz is not just a style of music – it's even more than a genre. Jazz is a 'way' of making music, a certain spirit... and as such it has absorbed many styles and influences over its ebullient history to constantly evolve and escape any rational definition.
So, to answer the question it seems best to embark on a journey from the early days of Dixieland and Blues, passing through Swing, Bebop, Cool, Latin and more, until we arrive at a musical point where we can combine ancient Australian, Middle Eastern, and Indian sounds with all that jazz encompasses to capture that spirit in a world music that is undoubtedly Jazz... and still wonderfully impossible to define."
– James Morrison AM
Curator
