****The unwashed need answers.****
Why? Imo, some WANT answers; two different things.
****The questions become, is the evolution an improvement?****
Why does it have to be, or is expected to be, an "improvement"? Is Joe Henderson playing a ballad an "improvement" over Lester Young playing a ballad? Different and each a reflection of its time (****Evolution is a response to environment****). As always, whether any one of us likes one particular style better than another is a reflection of ourselves and our sensibilities relative to the world around us. The only thing that is a "dead end" is the need to put those qualifications on art. Now, if you really want to use criteria that gives a measure of excellence (or not) with something resembling an objective standard you have to look at the level of CRAFT and criteria used to judge that; and, no, those criteria are not purely subjective. You know.....that phrase that rhymes with "putz and dolts". It is, of course, not only about the craft; but, that road inevitably leads back to us (dead end).
****Guys trying to be different on purpose does not count as natrual****
Do you think, for one minute, that Bird and Trane didn’t "cultivate" their individuality? Every player sets out to find his/her voice and does so through a combination of inspiration and the hard work of trying new things; everything from developing harmonic concepts in their playing to trying fifty different saxophone mouthpieces to get the tone that they hear for themselves in their head. Bottom line:
You like the more traditional music (no problem) and seem to have a need to deem it "superior" to more contemporary music for some reason that is your very own. I don’t have that need and find it very limiting. I appreciate the excellence in the new and the old as long as certain other criteria are met. However, you don’t love or appreciate the traditional any more than I do. Excluding the non-traditional does not enhance our appreciation of the traditional; in fact, it limits it. You like the traditional and dislike the modern (I am generalizing, of course). There’s no problem with that. So, either you are correct and there are no worthy modern trends in music; or, I’m an idiot for thinking that there are. Importantly, it should be pointed out, again, which side of the coin does the bashing of the other.
Why? Imo, some WANT answers; two different things.
****The questions become, is the evolution an improvement?****
Why does it have to be, or is expected to be, an "improvement"? Is Joe Henderson playing a ballad an "improvement" over Lester Young playing a ballad? Different and each a reflection of its time (****Evolution is a response to environment****). As always, whether any one of us likes one particular style better than another is a reflection of ourselves and our sensibilities relative to the world around us. The only thing that is a "dead end" is the need to put those qualifications on art. Now, if you really want to use criteria that gives a measure of excellence (or not) with something resembling an objective standard you have to look at the level of CRAFT and criteria used to judge that; and, no, those criteria are not purely subjective. You know.....that phrase that rhymes with "putz and dolts". It is, of course, not only about the craft; but, that road inevitably leads back to us (dead end).
****Guys trying to be different on purpose does not count as natrual****
Do you think, for one minute, that Bird and Trane didn’t "cultivate" their individuality? Every player sets out to find his/her voice and does so through a combination of inspiration and the hard work of trying new things; everything from developing harmonic concepts in their playing to trying fifty different saxophone mouthpieces to get the tone that they hear for themselves in their head. Bottom line:
You like the more traditional music (no problem) and seem to have a need to deem it "superior" to more contemporary music for some reason that is your very own. I don’t have that need and find it very limiting. I appreciate the excellence in the new and the old as long as certain other criteria are met. However, you don’t love or appreciate the traditional any more than I do. Excluding the non-traditional does not enhance our appreciation of the traditional; in fact, it limits it. You like the traditional and dislike the modern (I am generalizing, of course). There’s no problem with that. So, either you are correct and there are no worthy modern trends in music; or, I’m an idiot for thinking that there are. Importantly, it should be pointed out, again, which side of the coin does the bashing of the other.