In my estimation, the only thing that is more to be guarded against than bad taste is good taste.
Russell LynesImprovisation was the blood and bone of jazz, and in the classic, New Orleans jazz it was collective improvisation in which each performer, seemingly going his own melodic way, played in harmony, dissonance, or counterpoint with the improvisations of his colleagues. Quite unlike ragtime, which was written down in many cases by its composers and could be repeated note for note (if not expression for expression) by others, jazz was a performer's not a composer's art.
Russell LynesThe true snob never rests; there is always a higher goal to attain, and there are, by the same token, always more and more people to look down upon.
Russell Lynes