Long before we debated what real punk-rock was, what true hip-hop was, or what made indie-rock authentic, jazz heads grappled with what is and isn’t jazz music. Now, the debate is whether jazz is dying off or not.

America’s jazz audience is not only shrinking, it’s aging. Attendance at jazz performances has dropped 30% since 2002. The median age of concert patrons in 2008 was 46; in 1982 it was 29.

But jazz is not dead, yet. Among other groups, Skerik’s Syncopated Taint Septet is proof:

The full blog post, on the status of Jazz in 2009, is at INTELLIGENT LIFE.