Werner breathes new life into debate on the death of jazz – The Boston Globe

…a neighbor visited Werner and started naming jazz musicians he liked — all of whom play smooth jazz. Werner sent the neighbor home with some authentic jazz CDs, including one of his own, and the neighbor reported that he liked some of it — Miles Davis’s ”Kind of Blue,” in particular — but that Werner’s had been problematic. He’d been trying to build a fireplace in his living room while listening to Werner’s CD, and found the music a distraction.

”His main complaint about it was that it was so interesting that he had to stop and listen to it. And that’s where jazz musicians are all misguided: They’re making CDs under the assumption that someone’s going to listen to them. These people are buying something [so] they can put it on and then spackle.”

That’s not the gist of the article, but it’s a good line. The whole article is a good read.