Yes, at one time jazz was “popular”, as well as setting cultural standards. Here are a couple of vinyl reissues that reflect the halcyon days, when people listened, and listened attentively.
One of the most recorded drummers, Shelly Manne, teamed up with the classically trained pianist Andre Previn (who later became conductor of the LA Philharmonic) and jazz bassist Leroy Vinnegar to put together a series of “soundtrack” albums of famous musicals. Most popular was the 1956 one from “My Fair Lady”, and even without Rex Harrison on vocals, it’s a treat. Previn swings like Basie on “Get Me To The Church On Time” while Manne is deft sashaying to “I’ve Grown Accustomed To her Face”. Previn pulls and stretches “On The Street Where You Live” and the team sways to “Show Me”. Brilliant in idea and execution.
Ornette Coleman’s 1959 debut was like a gauntlet thrown down, even though 60+ years later it makes one wonder what the fuss was all about. That alone should tell you how influential this album with Manne (there he is again), Red Mitchell-Percy Heath/b and Don Cherry/tp actually is. The give and take between Coleman and Cherry is the stuff of legend here, with Cherry in ripe form on the free “Giggin’”. The idiosyncratic melody lines on things like “Rejoicing” is revolutionary, while the mood changes of “Tears Inside” is like a white knuckler roller coaster ride. Coleman’s alto, considered iconoclastic at the time, is palpably based in the Texas blues and bebop. The shape of jazz to come.