Jazz: Why Do We Need It?

Many musicians and fans have recently read and commented on the Wall Street Journal article by music critic Terry Teachout, "Can Jazz Be Saved?" The article talks about how attendance at jazz events has dropped since a survey in 1987 and that the audience is getting older. It goes on to say that even the older people are not showing up as much. Apparently, jazz is now considered a high art form, and, like classical music, the average person has trouble understanding it. You can't see it on TV, it doesn't sell, young people can't relate to it, and jazz musicians are snobs. Why do we even need jazz now? How does it fit into today's zippy electronic, information age? Shouldn't jazz just go away and die peacefully in the desert or the snow someplace, or be put in mothballs in some catacomb?