While I agree that Jazz is not Wynton Marsalis, or any one individual, I don’t believe Wynton is trying to make that claim. He is merely trying to establish guidelines for the artform he loves, much like you might deny that an impostor is a member of your family.

You may disagree with his conclusions, but only a “nitwit” would deny the need for some line of demarkation between genres, if only for identification purposes.

You also display your ignorance of his widely available opinions on other genres of music. I recommend that you read “Reaching for Higher Ground” to become informed that while he values jazz above other genres, he makes efforts to not insult or devalue other genres as a rule (hip-hop a worthy exception, though for reasons more social than musical).

If we use jazz to describe any kind of music, we lose the distinction between Louis Armstrong and Chris Botti – both talented musicians, but it would be unfair to describe either in comparison to the other. I’ve never heard Botti play jazz, at least in the sense that Armstrong used the term, so it seems unfair to both to call it that. Jazz as a performance style existed for many years before a consensus term was used to identify it – perhaps we are now at the same juncture with “smooth jazz,” a term which seems pejorative and simplistic to me.

Regardless, I think it is foolish and small-minded to tell Mr. Marsalis – perhaps the most eloquent spokesman and educator in any genre of music, let alone jazz, in the last 20 years – to “shut up.” You are entitled to your opinion, of course, but “for the sake of the artform,” please make sure your opinion is informed by more than your ideas. Thanks.