The reason why Noel Gallagher hates jazz: “It’s f**king nonsense”
It’s not particularly difficult to find things that Noel Gallagher dislikes. Across his 30 years in the public consciousness, the Oasis guitarist has taken aim at everyone from Sum 41 to Coldplay to Lewis Capaldi to Liam Gallagher. Nobody is safe from Gallagher’s ire, and if he’s given the opportunity, the guitarist will even aim at entire music genres that infuriate him.
One of those genres is jazz, the legendary art form born out of a potent mix of gospel and blues that started in America (another thing that Gallagher hates) and involves a hefty bit of improvisation — something that equally doesn’t sit well with Gallagher. Back in 2015, the former Oasis man had the opportunity to go off on the genre, and with signature Gallagher aplomb, he took the entirety of jazz to task.
“If you’ve never been to a jazz club, this is what happens at a jazz club: a jazz club is like four guys on stage enjoying themselves more than the 50 people in the audience,” Gallagher swipes. “That’s what it is. They’re all playing a different song, all at the same time, in different tempos, in different keys, and they call it jazz. It’s fucking nonsense”.
In a previous interview, Gallagher explained that he tried to get on board with the genre, but it just wasn’t working for him. “I’ve got a broad taste in music. I’m still struggling with jazz,” Gallagher admits. He then goes on to use the same description as he did in the previous interview. “I mean, what is it all about? Four guys on stage enjoying themselves more than anybody else in the audience, all playing the wrong notes at the same time. ‘But that’s jazz.’ Alright, is that what they’re calling it now? ‘Cuz it used to be called shit when I was growing up.”
Gallagher also takes the opportunity in the latter interview to slag off heavy metal as a genre, claiming that “there’s a reason why they slit their wrists.” Perhaps as he ages, Gallagher will realise that he’s now in the perfect demographic to enjoy jazz music. You know, a reasonable re-examination and re-evaluation of his feelings because that’s what we’ve all come to expect from Noel Gallagher.
Check out Gallagher trying and failing to reckon with jazz music down below.
