**** Jazz has never been stationary. ****
Exactly! It evolves. It builds on what came before and the lineage is always there to be heard.
(Given the topic at hand (Rock/Jazz), I can hear coming the footsteps of our contributor with the appropriate handle đ)
@acman3 describes the Jazz/Rock divide well. Not a put down of Rock music or musicians, but very very few have been able to play Jazz at anywhere near the level of good Jazz players; even when they wanted to. Even the mentioned Ginger Baker was not on the level of good Jazz drummers. Obviously, two very different disciplines.
I donât think that Shorter âsold outâ . If one follows his career it is easy to hear how his involvement with Weather Report was a logical step in his evolution as an artist. While WRâs music was not always my cup of tea it certainly was innovative and influential and a logical step toward what Shorter did in more recent years as a solo artist.
For me, Shorter is on the short(ish) list of true giants of the music. Fantastic composer as well as player and adherent to one of tenets of Jazz: âsay what you have to say without unnecessary notesâ. His playing became more and more economical as his career progressed. One of those players who could express so much with few notes.
Re Sonny Rollins and the âhoofbeatsâ on âIâm An Old Cowhandâ. Not really that surprising. There was always a certain element of humor in Sonnyâs playing.
Speaking of humor and Jazz. Cannonball Adderly was another player that could bring an element of humor to his playing. He certainly had a sense of humor as exemplified by this clip that I recently sent a friend who didnât believe me it existed when I told him about it. Just for chuckles:
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