Is the appeal of Jazz mostly due to the amazing rhythms?

I'd suggest some T. Monk... ...most anything live and with his quartet you would most likely dig. I have a few... "Thelonious Monk Live in Paris, 1964-Alhambra vol.1" is a favorite of mine, but there are a lot of great ones out there. I also really like "At Carnegie Hall - 1957" which features John Coltrane. Since your question specified "marching band instruments" that made me think you would be inclined towards things which are more stripped down and with less instrumentation. I'll bet you would also like "Too Damn Hot" by Dr. Lonnie Smith, who plays shows occasionally at The Great American Music Hall in SF. Definitely worth checking out if you have the chance. ...he's got some magic fingers on that B3. For me, Jazz has been an acquired taste which has come very slowly over a long period of time. Jazz asks a lot more from the listener than most other forms of music, excepting classical and some experimental. There have been many recordings which have taken me multiple listenings before I "get" them and decide they are brilliant. So patience and Jazz are symbiotic to me. To answer your initial question, sometimes the rhythms are the most interesting part for me, but not always. I think the most appealing aspect of Jazz as a style of music is in it's composition and the way that improvisation works into that composition. In a word, it's "freedom". The complex rhythms are one appealing result of this philosophy.

I love jazz. My friend says it's like chaos..but I find it's like the soul singing. And everyone's soul might sound a bit different. Some of my faves are Oscar Peterson, Herbie Hancock, Miles Davis, Vince Guaraldi, Charles Mingus, Lee Morgan, Kenny Burrell and Sonny Rollins. So many more though. I'm not a fan of a lot of horns at once. I kind of dislike big band.

That is part of the appeal.

Sort of, but then you get into the really avant-garde stuff, like free improvisation, which all but abandons rhythm. It's hard for me to explain the appeal for me personally. Maybe it's the complexity, the passion (if it's done right), the way you can hear all the parts coming together. Some good, somewhat lesser known jazz albums (Basically, not the Kind of Blues or Love Supremes): Song for My Father - Horace Silver Karma - Pharaoh Sanders In San Fransisco - Cannonball Adderley Go! - Eric Dolphy Empyrean Isles - Herbie Hancock Money Jungle - Duke Ellington Soul Station - Hank Mobley Conference of the Birds - Dave Holland

The appeal of jazz is due to many things, there is no "mostly due to..." in jazz. Every artist and album and song and part has a best part about it, (good) improv, chord changes, rhythm, timbre... and a ton more. Kind of Blue - Miles Davis Sketches of Spain - Miles Davis Bitches Brew - Miles Davis A Tribute to Jack Johnson - Miles Davis A Love Supreme - John Coltrane Giant Steps - John Coltrane My Favorite Things - John Coltrane Blue Train - John Coltrane Mingus Ah Um - Charles Mingus The Clown - Charles Mingus Straight, No Chaser - Thelonius Monk Inner Mounting Flame - Mahavishnu Orchestra Birds of Fire - Mahavishnu Orchestra Light As a Feather - Return to Forever Romantic Warrior - Return to Forever Weather Report (1970) - Weather Report Black Market - Weather Report Maiden Voyage - Herbie Hancock Head Hunters - Herbie Hancock Pat Metheny Group - Pat Metheny Group The Way Up - Pat Metheny Group Red Clay - Freddie Hubbard Karma - Pharaoh Sanders And way more by all these artists... jazz has a far wider range of appeals than the rhythm, that much is sure, and there's a bunch of fusion here too just to emphasize how diverse jazz really is.

well some good artists are: Wynton Marsalis, Errol Garner, John Coltrane, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, and Wes Montgomery. and your totally right, nothing compares to the beauty of people playing jazz together, its such a great language to be able to communicate in, and it is so unique and amazing.

i hear you, man if your looking for rhythm you will dig Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers his drumming is sick on tracks like Moanin and Dat Dere other standards that never get old: Kind of Blue-Miles Davis Giant Steps-John Coltrane Anything Charlie Parker/ Sonny Rollins if you're into more of the smooth jazz: Gerald Albright, Candy Dulfer, Tim Bowman, Rick Braun and all that stuff is chill

Hi! The rhythm is part of the appeal for me but I love Jazz for the improvisation which is the main reason I don't enjoy classical music. My two favourite albums which I highly reccommend are: John Coltrane's - 'A Love Supreme Miles Davis - 'Kind Of Blue' You might enjoy these jazz/rock fusions too Miles Davis - 'Bitches Brew' Soft Machine - 'IV'

Law Man I think you're right. The rhythms are what is truly original in jazz. The noodling is all derivative, and often not well done, sometimes even an insult to the song and the composer. Well, you've got different levels of noodling from your Oscar Peterson and Diana Krall noodling, down to your not so great just slopped up music type noodling. But then look at the wonderfulness of Brazilian jazz -- Jobim etc, and the creativity of the for example Samba del Una Nota, or Girl from Ipanima, or take the music from A Man and a Woman, some of which is truly powerful jazz. So, yes, there are a few great artists who can noodle artfully, but most performers who simply take a stardard tune a do in in jazz mode are pretty predictable, and not so creative, except the rhythm, which may save their poor Las Vegas strip stage performance so it's not totally worthless. I am especially annoyed by singers that try to copy the later style of Ella Fitzgerald (which she never did when she was in her prime years of performing). That sort of screamy kind of thing, always grates on my aesthetic palate, I need to wash out my ears with some Chablis after hearing it.