[gooseyard]

I've been playing jazz most of my life and one of the most frustrating parts of it has been this idea that there should be some immediately obvious virtue in jazz as a musical style. If you're a musician who enjoys improvisation, chances are good that you'll be drawn to jazz, especially to recorded works from the era of albums like Kind of Blue. But you aren't some kind of philistine if it doesn't hook you.

For example, I have studied a lot of classical repertoire in order to get my technique together to improve my jazz playing, and while I appreciate those compositions, I don't really listen to them for pleasure. My opinion about their value as works of art is not based on whether I enjoy them or not. I don't enjoy many types of food but I recognize that they have enormous value to people who do enjoy them. We like what we like, and we shouldn't judge styles on the basis of whether we like them or not.

If you listen to a record like Kind of Blue and it doesn't do anything for you, don't sweat it. You wouldn't be a better person for liking it, and no true lover of jazz would judge you on the basis of whether you like that record or not. If you're genuinely curious, listen to other jazz records from the era, maybe you'll like those. If you don't, no big whoop. There's a lot of music to love. Listen to what you like.

[bossyTeacher]

Totally agree. People often approach music with a very rigid black/white mindset that only blinds them to the beauty of music in all its forms. I don't like sushi but I can appreciate the craft behind it and experience the collection of sensations that I go through when I consume sushi

[cfn]

Great answer. I would add that ones taste may change with time, mine certainly did. I couldn't see the point of jazz as a youngster but came to enjoy it greatly later in life.