In article <BxJlb.4316$Tr4.25121@attbi_s03>, Marc
<box526TR@spamtrap.net> wrote:

> I spent a little bit of time playing in jazz clubs with a bunch of
> college students, no pay involved. It was fun, but kind of a strange
> scene.

Can you mention any places; cities or clubs, where it might be more
accessible to sit in or find some players to jam with?

> You are supposed to cultivate your individual style in jazz, but
> mostly we had guys who could do a perfect Bill Evans, or a perfect
> Miles Davis (down to the same sunglasses), a perfect Chick Corea,
> etc. It was very Japanese.

That seems inherently obvious, though I hadn't considered
it.  I read an essay by Alex Kerr in which he points out the Japanese
first buy the uniform and equipment.  You needn't begin learning golf
without the appropriate clothing.  Then we went to Takayama and found
all the Japanese male tourists wearing the same uniform: sleeveless
fishing vests and the fishing caps and chinos and everying. I kept
saying, hey, there's the guy from our minshuku, but it turned out to be
one of many other guys that were dressed just the same.

I can do imitations of the dominant jazz guitarists, but assiduously
avoid it as it is so unhip...

> There is a super glossy Jazz monthly ("Swing") that is the size of a
> small telephone book. I don't know how they fill it with stuff each
> month. Like many hobbies in Japan, jazz is pursued by a hard-core
> group of affeciandos with an attention to detail that can sometimes
> be overwhelming.

These afficianados; do you think these are predominantly listeners or
players?  I assumed there was more market for jazz in Japan mostly
because every mid-level to upscale place I went, whether for coffee,
food or drinks, seemed to have jazz on their sound system.  And usually
really excellent classic American jazz sides. I heard a fair amount of
Horace Silver, Wayne Shorter and curiosities of the the Bop era. I
really liked it.

-- 
///--- Vote for the richest Republican.  He understand the common man.