Ken Burns' JAZZ starts Monday on PBS!

I recently heard a NPR's report on this upcoming series, which made some critical observations. They started by stating that KB almost seems a parody of himself copying his schtick from prior specials. They also stated that he seems to get stuck on his favorites, giving them center stage and 30 minute biographies and others, whom NPR felt were just as important, 5-10 minute quickies. Overall NPR seemed to indicate a strong bias on KB's part. They also refered to the civil rights weaving of times and artists. Which I believe can hold true for alot of music. Again, they stated that there are around four basic Jazz giants that get center stage, I think they were Ellington, Parker, Armstrong and I forgot the other, that get the most of the press with the rest being placed in a secondary "by the way" status. I believe NPR's point was that KB lets his bias show, isn't objective enough and doesn't shed new ground. Anyway, I will watch and judge for myself.

What makes NPR think that documentaries are not works of art themselves? I would expect any author (and I'd probably elevate Burton to autuer) to lace his work with his own persona. I think the problem many may be having here is in confusing documentary film making with journalism, they are different media.

My problem, ultimately comes down to the Burn's formula not working with this particular subject. I found "Civil War" and "Baseball" far more interesting. Jazz, it seems to me, is far to spontaneous, exciting, and creative a subject to be well served by this sanitized format. I tried to like this series, I really did, but I believe historical/social context approach has taken center stage - at the expense of the music. I'm sure there'll be worthwhile segments ahead, but I won't be making a great effort to tune in. But, if it works for you, great.

Interesting? I have never thought of a documentary as being differant than journalism. I always viewed it as a longitudinal examiation of events. "An accurate reporting of history." Certainly,I never thought that during a documentary you could obscure the fact with subjective reporting and call it art. Anyway, I might catch some parts of it. We'll see.

All documents of events are framed within some context. Even so-called objective reporting is colored by the viewpoints of the author. This is just common sense and obvious to any one who has heard the difference in the way The New York Times and Wall Street Journal will cover the same events. People shade their observations of the world around them with their experiences. This isn't a bad thing; without experience we would have no ability to assign meaning to the various stimuli around us. A documentary film director has a responsibility to never falsify as that would become the realm of fiction. However, it is the perrogative of the director to report the events in whatever context he wishes. While the social climate of the United States may seem unimportant to you in it's effect on jazz, clearly Burton disagrees (having read their autobiographies I'd say that Mingus and Miles would side with Burton). We should not let this dismay us! Even in the subjective recount we can compile the truth (whatever that means). As an example, I submit Goya's The Fifth of May. This is a single snapshot in a long war. Moreover, it is clear that Goya has abandoned photo realism in favor of a hypereal presentation of the event. His sympathies are evident, even though he is documenting an event. The beauty is, however, that his presentation is more valuable for understanding the war in ways that a photograph could never be. In my life I have found that History books are filled with lies and revisions. Only in art can we begin to look for some underlying truth. That, by the way, is why I love music.