Jazz – A Dying Breed

“As jazz settles into its second century, the number of musicians who qualify as living legends diminishes each year. Even in the 1970s — when the music was arguably at its lowest commercial ebb — many of the greatest names in its history were still rumbling around the five-star circuit. Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Benny Goodman, Charles Mingus: all commanded the biggest stages. Today, it is harder and harder to find those living links with the past. The recent death of the showman Lionel Hampton was another reminder of how few titans are still with us.” Is the era of the jazz concert coming to a close?