Dear Jason,
as they said on the mix CD, switch to "cool out mode".
From: Jason Witherspoon <arzachel@speakeasy.org>
To: Keyser & Shuriken <keyser.shuriken@freemail.hu>; Harry Marquez
<organiccompound@hotmail.com>
Cc: Acid Jazz list <acid-jazz@ucsd.edu>
Sent: Tuesday, August 22, 2000 7:13 PM
Subject: Re: Blue Note mix CDs by hip hop DJs
> At 12:04 PM 8/22/00 +0200, Keyser & Shuriken wrote:
> >In my opinion Blue Note sucks ass great time.
>
> Maybe those pesky, minimal-talent dj's insist on getting paid?
>
If I do a spot for Coca Cola, I'd also like to get payed. Maybe not by the crowd, who watches the ad, but rather the company I do the promotion for. Because this CD is heavy promotion for Blue Note reissues and reasonably priced comps.
> Anyway, saying the greatest jazz label in history "sucks ass" coz they're
> not giving their stuff away to you, um, just rankles me hard.
Have you read my letter before adressing me in such an offensive manner? I'm not bitching for free copies (and if you didn't get that, you're a very simple person indeed). I just think that they shouldn't charge you for their promotional stuff. Because that's what it is. If it was a only tribute to the Blue Note era (without any promotional intentions), they wouldn't invite a lot of hip hop big names just to say hi on the mic without giving true toughts on the essence of their tribute (anyway, their names make a nice sales point on the cover of the CD).
> Blame the dj
> for a crummy mix
I didn't do that. The mix is OK, I was just expecting more cut ups and stuff.
> & blame yourself for buying it instead of a real jazz
> album.
Fok! Why are you keep acting so dumb? I'm buying a whole lotta "real jazz albums" (as well as hip hop), why should I only stick to 1 type of albums? This Blue Note release seemed interesting, even with all this hip hop big names on the cover, it could have been a really great tribute album, but I found it boring and a bit marketing driven. That's all. Why shall I blame myself for giving it a try? You mean, everytime I hear something I don't like, I shall shut up and blame myself for listening to it? I thought this list was about discussing music. Harry here had a question. I had my answer which in this case wasn't too positive. If it offends you, start a political campaign for the ban of critical thinking. :)
>If the extremely reasonably-priced _Blue Breakbeats_ comps haven't
> piqued yr curiosity, maybe you should stay away from jazz for the
moment--
>
Who said they haven't? You should stay away from whacking yourself and sounding like a 5 yrs old kid in the kindergarden. The comps are a great thing as well as the Blue Note label as a whole, especcially their 50s-70s work. Anyway I think that the sales ideas dominating the mix CD sucked, and I am angry at Blue Note because they could have done a much better thing out if this concept. You also gotta see that it isn't the same label any longer (just think of EMI), they are living mostly out of repackageing and selling their past. I don't see it as a bad thing because this way younger guys like me can get to the fantastic old stuff, but it shows that they are not the same innovative jazz workshop any longer ("the greatest jazz label in history"?, what about Verve and Impulse!, Fantasy, just to name 3 big ones. For some of us some really obscure small labels are the greatest.). This mix CD series can be seen as their effort to bring new faces, vital musical thoughts and approaches back to the label. I respect their trying, maybe next time they come up with something that suits my taste.
As it was previously mentioned on this list, Blue Note France for example does the right thing with releasing such exciting jazz projects of today as Eric Truffaz or Saint Germain.
Think!
Peace,
shuriken
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