Jazz Prodigy

"It is characteristic for jazz as a form of interference, however, that one can easily dispense with its more differentiated elements without eliminating it, or even preventing it from being recognizable as jazz. It is pseudo-democratic in the sense that characterizes the consciousness of the time: its attitude of immediacy, definable through a rigid system of tricks, hides class differences. In the ideological realm, as in the current political one, such democracy is closely accompanied by reaction. The deeper jazz strays in society, the more reactionary traits it assumes; the more completely it is enslaved by the banal; the less it tolerates freedom and outbursts of the imagination; until finally, as the musical accompaniment to the modern collective, it simply glorifies oppression itself. The more democratic jazz is, the worse it becomes." - On Jazz, Adorno, Page 128

While Adorno proposes in this quote that jazz "glorifies oppression itself" due to its "pseudo-democratic"ness, the case of young jazz musician Joey Alexander, who arguably earned his international recognition through his jazz piano playing, may suggest that jazz has the ability to be both democratic and good. Alexander grew up in Indonesia and before his early teens had already performed at the Newport Jazz Festival among other notable jazz festivals and concert halls around the world. Alexander's improvisation and embellishment to music shows jazz isn't definable through a "rigid system of tricks" but rather a musical purity and creativity unlike many other genres. I included a suggested read/musical critique from the New York Times about/of Alexander, "An 11-Year Old Jazz Sensation Who Hardly Clears the Piano’s Sightlines." The author of this piece, Nate Chinen, suggests a different take on jazz than Adorno: "Jazz prodigies rarely have full command of their artistry. They tend to exhibit a superabundance of technique and core knowledge but a more deficient supply of the intangibles — what jazz partisans mean when they praise with the word “maturity.” And even the most virtuoso interpretation of composed material is of limited use in jazz, at least when it comes to a solo career. For a jazz pianist, the mastery entails a staggering breadth of knowledge about harmony, rhythm and orchestration, all converging in an eloquent synthesis." (http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/13/arts/music/joey-alexander-an-11-year-old-jazz-sensation-who-hardly-clears-the-pianos-sightlines.html?_r=0) Adorno seems to leave out this notion of "the intangibles" in his analysis of jazz, focusing on the musical structure but not necessarily the "maturity" required for improvisation and the synthesizing vision of musical understanding (harmony/rhythm/orchestration) that Chinen mentions. While Chinen agrees that Alexander doesn't have the maturity he needs to be a success on his own in the jazz world, Alexander still serves as a model for near-mastery of a style (jazz) that isn't merely "interference" or capitalistic but a form of expression and passion. Here are a few videos of Joey Alexander: