N/O stands for Night Out, but you can read it as "NO jazz for the masses" since jazz will never have the same audience and mass appeal as manele, for instance. I suspect that with jazz, you never quite know what to expect (even with a band or soloist you have heard before), whereas manele and other more “popular” genres deliver a more consistent listener / dancer experience.

If you follow this blog, you might be surprised to learn that it is open to advertisers. I have never had an advertorial here and even assuming that I start getting paid for ads, etc., it will be a long time before I get on "black", considering that I have been giving out prizes in the USD 3 digit range and am open for free ads. I have been reluctant to engage in campaigns before for a few reasons:

• most Romanian campaigns do not address me or my readers; for instance, I do not have any use for hard floor tiles from Romania and I doubt any of my readers, mostly outside the country, do either
• I do not lack inspiration, what I lack is the time to write for free
• the Romanian online market is way too small and I am a bit removed from it
• it lacks ethics which is why most readers hate it – mine are and will be all labeled appropriately

On the other hand, I do not want “purist”, “anti-commercials” readers, I am curious how things work in Romania, I do travel there every now and then, I still have family and friends “left behind” and Romania is a part of me to a greater extent than I am a part of it. Which is why I dropped by BlogalInitiative today and found a campaign which is not excessively commercial, on the contrary, it’s cultural and for a good cause.

The requirement is to write about my fav jazz piece, and although that sounds simple enough, it is a bit more difficult for me than you would expect. First of all, the idea of picking one favorite out of many is rather exclusivist and arbitrary: to come up with an all-time fav you need to think for a while, and the fav of the moment will most likely change by the time the article is finished. Secondly jazz, in itself, is perhaps one of the most imaginative and dynamic music genres – it’s all about spontaneity, creativity. It is “perpetually hipsterish” in that part of its appeal is discovering new artists and realms of fusion, before everybody else. Few of them remain, lingering in your ears or hard-drive long past the average expiry date.

Music has always been a big part of this blog. Apart from articles dedicated to music (top 40 most memorable video clips, music – personality test, music by Adrian Enescu, Prokofiev, Balanescu, Primus, Timpuri Noi, Talking Heads, Holograf, Compact, DJ Undoo, Inna, Thievery Corp, Nightlosers, Trash Pour 4) – and if it’s not obvious by now, an article dedicated to Jazz alone has been missing, even though jazz pieces may have been published in various other articles.

Because of its wide expanse, diversity and pregnant re-invention, the boundaries of jazz are constantly being redefined. I might be willing to extend this label to creations that the average music listener would not. In particular, are Henry Mancini’s creations jazz? Pink Panther won’t cause controversy, but what about the others, are they all “easy listening” as they are usually categorized? How about Ocean Beach in the Black Might Orchestra version? Is there time in our busy lives for a Rhapsody in Blue, or do our busy lives need it more so than the previous generations? How about Dave Brubeck’s Take Five or Miles Davis’ So What – can they ever be topped? Dream a Little Dream of Me with Ella Fitzgerald in Sophie Merry’s “Solo Duet interpretation” might stay with you for a while. Is Bobby McFerrin a jazz musician or just a wonderful person making everybody happy? Is Alexandru Andries a bluesman (Tarom, Dracula, Kaki, Paranoic, Dimineata, #7, mamicii, seasonal) jazzman, a rocker, a folkist, a poet, or just a tough architecture prof? Who is Simpson’s Bleeding Gums Murphy (blues) based on?

Whatever is your personal answer to the questions above, make sure you don’t miss Kurt Elling, Victor Wooten Band, Avishai Cohen Trio and the many others who will perform in Bucharest Jazz Night Out, this October and November!

Sources / More info: twinarts