For me, nothing illustrates the Long Tail better than the superb outliers in the field of jazz. Here are some artists I've been listening to lately. Thank you emusic.
Frank Potenza, guitar
Alan Pasqua, piano
Bob Ferrazza, guitar
Ed Bickert, guitar
Enrico Pieranunzi, piano
Fred Hersch, piano
Jack Wilkins, guitar
Mark Elf, piano
Phil Upchurch, guitar
Randy Johnston, guitar
Joshua Breakstone, guitar
I'd wager you could stop a thousand people on the street in any city in America (with the possible exception of New York), read this list of musicians to them, and they would not recognize even one of these extraordinarily talented artists. Pity, but with a very few exceptions, that seems to be the fate of jazz musicians. Hey, it's not like these guys didn't know what they were getting into.
