nate

I'd like to draw your attention to an article in the March 2005 issue of GQ entitled: 'Why Jazz Blows'. The top 5 reasons given:

* Jazz got hijacked by the preservation society (read: Wynton Marsalis)
* It stopped being sexy
* Jazz has no ol'dirty bastard ( I'm not sure about that one! )
* Innovation became taboo
* Musicians put down their pens

It was pretty harsh -- probable too harsh in my opinion, although it did make some good points. What do you think? Has Jazz stopped evolving?

__________________
the peripatetic technocrat

wiseone2

Come to New York City. Hang in the East Village jazz clubs.
Go uptown to Harlem. Check out the Lenox Lounge.
Check this out-
http://www.gothamjazz.com/

And this-
http://www.allaboutjazz.com/
If I want to read about Jazz I don't go to a fashion magazine
Wilmer

__________________
Be sure Brain is engaged before putting Mouthpiece in gear.
S.Suark 1951

jazz_trpt

Amen.

__________________
Jeff Helgesen, trumpet
http://www.shout.net/~jmh/

talcito

Perhaps these fashion guys are partially correct.

When is the last time you were walking down the street and found yourself singing the latest beautiful melody written by Wynton for his Lincoln Jazz Orchestra. When was the last time your wife started scatting along with a Wallice Roney solo?

I personally see a lack of "melodic" content in alot of what is being done today by those that have been put in the forefront of jazz.

Without melody, it just aint' sexy!

A couple of weeks ago after a gig I was walking a lady I just met by Madison Square Garden. It was about 10Degress outside and there was an older trumpet player playing just beautifully! He started to play "I can't get Started when he saw me". The lady turns to me and says "Could you tell what that song says in Spanish". Ahhh, now that's sexy. Thank god he did not play something modern!

Last summer I attended a couple of events from the "new music for Trumpet Festival" in NYC. After attending these performances I believe they could have been called the "In search for a melody Series". Lots of playing---great technical playing----But if I was not a trumpet player I would not have been at all interested.

My trumpet hero, the great Cuban Trumpet player "Chocolate Armenteros" places great emphases on melody over technique. When I finally got to do some gigs with him I started asking alot of questions about technique. His response was " Keep focusing on developing a melodic style"---"Melody lasts forever".

Thats why we are still in love with the stuff that was done 50 years ago. It always sound fresh and sexy!

Tootsall

Since when did anyone (other than GQ) think that "the preservation society" (Correctly called the "Preservation Jazz Hall Society"?) and Wynton are the same? I've got recordings from both and they "ain't nowhere near the same". I'd go across the street and pay $50 to $70 to hear either group in performance. Sadly, the Preservation Jazz Hall Society are slowly succumbing to old age and I don't hear of anyone trying to replace them.

Oh.. and "GQ" being a "fashion magazine"? It is to laugh.

Not relevant...on any counts

wiseone2

I played in the FONT performance conducted by Butch Morris. I thoroughly enjoyed the "Conduction" I participated in. There were at least 16 players on stage and not one written note of music. Butch, with his gestures to the players drew from us the music.
It wasn't Rodgers or Berlin, but it was exciting music.

Bill Dixon's concert was mesmerizing. He drew sounds and musical pictures unheard in NY before.

It has become fashionable to put down Wynton Marsalis.
I listen to" Blood On The Fields" and I am moved. His gospel work"In This House, On This Morning,"is a fine work. I wonder if his detractors have actually listened to his music.

Jazz is alive.
Wilmer

__________________
Be sure Brain is engaged before putting Mouthpiece in gear.
S.Suark 1951

talcito

Hi Wilmer:

I unfortunately was not at those performances you mentioned at FONT. If you were involved I sincerely wish I would have been there. The performances I was at were musically unrewarding. A great deal of technique--But no heart---not even when playing a ballad.

Perhaps I have not developed musically to appreciate that style---or perhaps I am just being honest.

I have been at performances were I will hear someone in the audience ask a friend "who is that playing"---"He sounds like crap". Upon finding out the name of the well known artist the person says a few minutes later " that's really awesome".

I do not think we can discount opinions of non-musical magazines. They may not know anything about music but they tend to be pretty good at knowing trends. We have to keep our minds open to what non-musicians are thinking. Often, they are the ones that pay at the door. In New york, how many people listen to the smooth jazz station(CD101.0) vs the jazz station 88.9. I have not read the article, but I assume they are talking about the listening trends of the general population, not necesaarily musicians.

bas

Wilmer,

I happened to be in NYC for the Bill Dixon concert that you speak of. I found it really intriguing and challenging....but I beg to differ about his voice being the only "sound and musical picture heard in New York"....my mentor Paul Smoker. who performs in NYC frequently and lives near Rochester, is closely related in textures, colors and vision....thoughts?

BTW....I was at the FONT fest as well.....dug seeing you and 11 other catz playing the music of the future....I perform in a number of "Soundpainting" projects and was digging the close relationship of the two.

bas