Writer Matthew Pannell has set up a 31-day blog Jazz January in which he is attempting to answer the question “Can jazz music work on normal people?”

Or as he elaborates his question further:

“Are special powers needed to ‘get’ it wherever you hear it? Is the brain of the ‘jazzer’ really different to yours? …….What is it with jazz? You can stand outside and listen for as long as you want, but you can’t get in. Is it because of the jazz-people and their secretive, nocturnal underworld? Or is the music just impossible for all but a chosen few?”

He has been taking “jazz testers” of all ages round clubs in London, and is promising to deliver the result when the experiment is complete at the end of the month.  Or possibly he will have just got hooked on the music anyway like the rest of us…There is some great lively writing in there. Recommended.

LINKS: JAZZ JANUARY BLOG
Twitter: @MJ_Pannell