New Jersey Stage 2015 - Issue 10 | Page 136

tion of a song. Both styles take great skill. In the world of jazz, repeating a familiar riff, run, or a common way of navigating a tune would be called cliché. An accomplished jazz player doesn’t play clichés. Yet, in rock, the cliché is the way. The context determines if a cliché is good or bad! What is it about jazz that is so off-putting to some? Some people say jazz is too cerebral, inaccessible, and people shouldn’t have to work so hard to underst