JAZZ MUSIC IS LIKE GOOD CONVERSATION

In truth, the art of all music is the art of listening. 

     Listening is what musicians do, whether it is western classical music, or Indian classical music. Listening is vital, especially in ensemble music, and in music where there is an element of improvisation.
Jazz is not esoteric, difficult music to listen to. Jazz is just music that has to be listened to attentively. 

     "Jazz is not background music. You must concentrate upon it in order to get the most of it. You must absorb most of it. The harmonies within the music can relax, soothe, and uplift the mind when you concentrate upon and absorb it. Jazz music stimulates the minds and uplifts the souls of those who play it was well as of those who listen to immerse themselves in it. As the mind is stimulated and the soul uplifted, this is eventually reflected in the body"  ~ Horace Silver – pianist and composer

     Jazz compositions are highly structured and completely planned pieces of music, at the same time, jazz is a musical art form that is partly planned and partly spontaneous, this means that jazz musicians in an ensemble play to an agreed upon musical theme, and while playing the tune, the musicians in the band add their own ideas to it in a musical dialogue, spontaneously improvising as they go along.

Recognizing Jazz

     To recognize jazz music, the music should swing, or, have passages of improvisation, or, have intriguingly placed flattened, dissonant, (blue) notes, and/or, create a variety of emotions.

.     Jazz Swings - it has a rhythm that makes you sway and swing, rather than rock back and forth, like the Duke Ellington song title says, ‘It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing’. 
.     Jazz has passages within the arrangement for musical improvisation.
.     Jazz has some flattened, dissonant and what are called blue notes in odd places within the composition.
.    And Jazz creates and conveys a variety of emotions in the listener.

Jazz is a journey of inventiveness and discovery

     "The essentials of jazz are: melodic improvisation, melodic invention, swing & instrumental personality." Mose Allison

      Jazz performers, whether they are vocalists or instrumentalists, are highly disciplined because jazz is a relatively complex music with several musical, technical, intellectual, and emotional elements happening in the music simultaneously, that's why jazz is called a musical art form.

Jazz could be said to be the art of listening and co-creating music.  

     Jazz musicians get together and play to a set musical theme - the planned part - and while playing the theme as planned, each musician adds their thoughts and ideas to the overall theme through their voice or musical instrument by listening to the last soloist and carefully responding.
Jazz musicians exchange ideas by evaluating and responding.  

     Every jazz musician learns to listen; it is a key skill which they deliberately develop and work on. It’s a jazz musician’s discipline to listen carefully and respond suitably. They exchange ideas, and this  sharing requires evaluation and response. ‘Evaluation’ is listening and understanding to what the others have said or played, and ‘response’ is in the clarifying, acknowledging, and retorting befittingly. Each musician adds to the ideas of the soloist; taking the thought further; continuing the thread, or, by re-joining with a new idea that is relevant to the theme which is in turn taken up and responded to by the musician who takes the next solo. What they improvise is always relevant to the conversation they're having.
Jazz musicians have good conversations. 

     Each soloist in the conversation responds to the mood of the music and to the other musicians in the conversation by extemporizing musical notes from their instruments; first creating a phrase, then a sentence and going on to creating a whole paragraph.      
     The beauty of the discipline of jazz, is that each musician plays an agreed upon number of measures, sometimes four, or eight, twelve or more measures. Each musician complies with the discipline, all the while being thematic, and, within the arrangement and sentiment of the tune. So, in every good jazz session, whether the musicians are playing standards or new compositions in a formal setting, or in an impromptu jam session, they listen to each other and improvise, but they keep the theme in mind and add their own ideas to the theme.
Listening to jazz
     For a lover of jazz, listening to jazz is an absorbing and immersive experience. To listen to Jazz and all music in which there is improvisation, is to listen to great technical prowess by the musician and to revel in the creativity of the musician one is listening to, in her/his ability to improvise and innovate while making complete sense.
     A jazz lover is accustomed to listening carefully/attentively to music and therefore is open to listening to all music, specially that which is involving. And due to this attentiveness to music, hears beauty in all types of music and is especially taken in/up by music which stimulates emotions and the intellect.

     A jazz lover often likes the classical music of their region, whether it is European Classical music or Hindustani classical, or Carnatic classical, or regional music from any of the continents on the planet. They even like pop music, folk and rock music. Jazz lovers usually like everything that catches the fancy of their intellect. However, their greatest musical preference is, more often than not - jazz.  
     Listening is not only the priority of the musician, but it is also that of the listener. Jazz is the art of intelligent musicians. But as Art Blakey says, "It takes an intelligent ear to listen to jazz."