Jazz for aficionados
*****“I feel like there are more reasons to be excited about improvised music today than at any time during my 41 years on the planet,” the jazz critic Nate Chinen tells Rolling Stone. ***** Interesting that he used the term 'improvised Music', and not 'Jazz' Future historians will get it right. They will know the start and end date of Jazz. We are too close at this time in history. Too close to see the demarcation lines clearly.. Cheers |
This is to correct my mistake on Bobby Timmons; This song projects someone who is too tired to walk, but for whatever reason he has to keep going. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTMVmHUgzEs |
What is it about human nature that causes some of us to see only what we want to see in order to buttress our personal points of view? Why, in spite of all the great advances in medicine, life expectancy, personal liberties, general world wide standard of living and on and on, do some of us insist on seeing the present state of affairs as so much worse than in the past? Of course real problems still exist and there still is much room for improvement; but, really?! I would like to read a good answer to why it is meaningful and/or fruitful to continually decry the death of jazz (as anyone of us might define it), the whole while putting down and shutting ourselves off to potentially great music simply because it is different stylistically from what is our personal musical comfort zone; especially in the face of the obvious time proven and verifiable tendency of jazz to evolve. Just what is accomplished other than to stroke our personal ego for being so “uncompromising”; especially when so many others feel differently and make an informed case for a different viewpoint? No other than the great Duke Ellington said that he didn’t like the word “jazz” because it is so limiting. This is all such a tired argument here that it almost doesn’t deserve any further comment. There is actually little that is “interesting” about the use of the term “improvised music” in pryso’s linked article. That is a term that is used by some jazz heads to refer to simply “jazz”; there is no other real or implied meaning or suggestion. The reason some use that term is simple: contrary to a recent assertion here improvisation is one of the most (if not the) most important elements in jazz....and it sounds kind of hip, like actresses now referring to themselves as “actors”. Now, one could argue that it is bad use of the term since it is true that not all improvised music is jazz. However, in the context of that article this is what is meant. Btw, one use of the term “improvised music”....over fifty uses of the term “jazz” in the article. Me thinks we are seeing what we want to see 😎 On a different note, a friend’s recent interest in the clarinet reminded me of this clip which I listened to recently. One of the greatest players on the instrument today and a freak of nature technically. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=O_JkhFuzEoo Speaking of Duke and the clarinet: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Ej29CkjSt-4 https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dkgTv8M_yj0 |
