Every year, there is usually an act or two at the Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival that prompts the question:
Is this even jazz music?
The answer depends on what you think jazz is. Yet festival organizers Marc Iacona and John Nugent say jazz music is the foundation of so much modern music, there are roots of jazz in almost everything.
"What is jazz is, to me, music that has form, yet has no boundaries," Iacona said.
"This is America's art form," Nugent said. "And all these styles -- rock and roll came out of swing. You go back to the geneology, the chart, the history of music in this country, it goes back to the roots, which is funeral processions in the early 1900s."
According to Wikipedia, jazz bears a West African pedigree that features improvisation.
Young artist Grace Kelly said jazz was, indeed, musical improvisation - and jazz means musical freedom. She constantly explores, searching for new ways to play - and new ideas to examine on stage.
This sense of improvisation makes the music more of a community conversation, for in jazz, there is more interaction among the musicians than any other genre.
"It gives you the opportunity to create a dialog with individuals that are speaking the same language as you," said Iacona. "And if they're not, they can learn to speak that language."
And it's a language that even the audience can discern and enjoy.
