Here's a great example of the music I truly love, which is unfortunately way beyond the realm of music that I'm able to play on acoustic guitar:

Do Whatcha Wanna

We occasionally have long and heated discussions about jazz, like the recent one about Paul Whiteman, the white-man so-called King of Jazz.

My perception of the music that first developed and came to be called "jazz" is that it was distinguished by two important characteristics: group improvisation; and a deep, infectious, can't-not-dance rhythmic groove. The latter-day genre we recognize as today's jazz is wonderful music ~ don't get me wrong ~ but it lacks both those original features: improvisation occurs only in solo form, and the "beat," such as it is, is pretty laid back.

Around the same time that jazz was becoming cool, funky African-American dance music continued to grow and develop under new names: jump blues, rhythm and blues, rock 'n' roll (most notably the truly classic R&B/R&R recorded in New Orleans by Cosimo Matassa). My feeling is that these other forms can also claim direct descent from the founding fathers of jazz.

And then, there's the new contemporary street-beat second-line brass band music ~ like this, which is why I love New Orleans.