>>I figuer a guy who thinks George Strait is great, isn't going to be into Monk or Trane or Pettiford.
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>Country music is much closer to jazz than rock or blues.
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>Listen to Willie Nelson's early stuff, from the 50's and 60's, and he's playing licks all over the place that would pass for jazz.
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>I figure a guy who is into Miles Davis or Charlie Parker, purely for the music, is going to be into Merle Travis or Johnny Cash, purely for the music.
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>I get the sense that any fan of jazz who detests country is probably a closet Michael Bolton fan, who has taken too many insults for listening to crap, and now attempts to align their music preferences with what they preceive as elite.


Yes, Willie has done some very jazzy stuff. As has Lyle Lovett. But as a general point, I'm not so sure. I don't think it's too controversial to say most jazz music is much more sophisticated musically than most country music. (NOT trashing country). Guys like Duke Ellington and Miles Davis, they were composers, not songwriters. Saying nothing of the skill to improvise with other talented musicians as opposed to to playing off a sheet of music. To me that's working without a net.