For a long time in jazz, playing to the crowd was a sign of selling out. Creating music that pleased listeners was considered by many jazz players, and their fans, to be insincere, compromised and unsophisticated. "Entertainment" became something of a dirty word.
This "high art" view resulted in progressive, challenging styles of jazz, but also in a loss of listeners and sales. Recently, though, a different attitude has swept through the jazz world -- an attitude based on fun.
Three groups who have played Tokyo in the past month are prime examples of this trend. These groups -- the John Scofield Band, Us3 and the Charlie Hunter Quartet -- consciously take it upon themselves to overturn many jazz conventions. They clearly want their music to appeal to a broader audience, yet they have found ways to maintain the integrity and complexity of their sound.