It's true that Zorn never got a mention and nor did the Knitting Factory, also Keith Jarrett who is a personal favourite of mine got a very slight mention, and I also love Jamaladeen Tacuma, James Blood Ulmer, Sonny Sharrock to name a few who never rated even a passing reference that I heard, but how could one series, even one as long as this one, begin to cover the power and the passion that is jazz? As a big Betty Carter fan I was really surprised that she did not rate a mention, and Oscar Peterson was glossed over as well. What about Joe Zawinul? I could go on, so could you probably, but in the end I was just really glad to have some focus brought back to the art form that is jazz, I am grateful to have had some light brought to bear on something as unique as jazz is and learning about the humanity of just some of the people whose music I love was really worthwhile.
I would be willing to wager that just to cover the favourites of all the people who communicate via this list would take hours all by itself and then there are the rest that probably should also rate at least a mention as well.
It's a big and complicated job to give even a broad overview of a subject like this one and I have to agree with Steve that Burns deserves kudos for what he has managed to produce. Even as someone who has a fairly deep and broad knowledge of contemporary music, I learned a huge amount and found to my great pleasure that a lot of gaps in my knowledge were filled in and to my extreme pleasure I learned a lot that I never ever knew at all.
I agree with Gen that people like Miles and Trane stand in the pantheon of the Gods but not being in that realm should not detract from the genius and talent of so many others. Both Marsalis brothers probably have a huge amount of music left in them and, in time, some of it will be qualified as being right up there! I agree with Gen on this as well, we need to keep the discussion going, it is only through the efforts of the people who truly love this music that it will continue to flower in a proper garden setting!
In my humble opinion, I do not think that Burns attempted to make the documentary to end all documentaries on jazz. I also believe (as does Steve!) that this probably would not have come to fruition without Wynton. It takes a certain single-mindedness and dedication to make this sort of overview of something as vibrant as jazz come alive and speak to a broad audience. I for one do not see that Burns painted jazz as being anything less than vibrant and alive and more power to him for that. I loved the MC Solaar/Ron Carter clip as I did the short interviews with the young musicians, they set things up for more episodes in the future and I hope they get made, I would love to see more, much more of all this!
leslie/The Power of Sound
----- Original Message -----
From: Steve Catanzaro
To: acid jazz
Sent: Friday, March 09, 2001 9:59 AM
Subject: Jazz: The Finale
OK, I just got a chance to watch a tape-delay of the final episode of "Jazz." And, I had the unique opportunity to read what some of ya have been saying about it beforehand.
To the critics, I have one question. "What the fuck?" That was some of the slickest shit I've ever seen on television, in GENERAL. The last episode was, in my opinion, by FAR the best installment. An incredible, sustained statement of love and passion providiing the victory over commerce, trends and dollars.
What? We didn't like seeing MC Solaar and Ron Carter? The Art Ensemble of Chicago? Huge sequences from A Love Supreme? Giant, gorgeous slices of Duke Ellington and his golden latter period (Afro Eurasian Eclipse, Latin American Suite, Sacred Concerts, check Duke on the Rhodes, oh yeah, etc.) And the Duke kissing Richard Nixon 4 times? Yeah, well, he probably as much with that gesture as Mos Def did on the entire "Black On Both Sides" disc. (not to dis Mos Def!)
An awesome section on Dexter Gordon. Cecil Taylor, a marginal figure by most standards, was, as it seems to me, put in appropriate context. But the final editing sequences were brilliant... Coltrane shrieks put side-by side with Benny Goodman wails.... pulled it all together spectacularly. Marching bands in Louisianna, all the new young bloods, James Carter, Marcus Roberts, Nicholas Payton, etc, awesome!!!
The final episode also housed perhaps the best quote of the series; from a young girl from LaGuardia High's jazz band, who says, with suspiciously raised eyebrows, "I wanna know how we got from this music [jazz] to the kind of music you hear on the radio."
Yeah, well I'll bet there's a lot of people in the USA asking themselves the same thing, thanks to that damn fine series. Public or private funding, that was the shit, the bomb, or whatever else you want to say.
As for the myopia to the present some have accused it of. Well, I look at it a diferent way. I think they did a cool thing by saying, "Our definition of jazz is basically badass black guys blowing incredible shit on brass instruments. Oh, and by the way, Miles Davis took the shit in a whole other direction, you should check that out too. But, back to our main topic at hand." What's wrong with that? That's honest, as it seems to me.
As for the criticisms of Wynton. Well, I could say the patently obvious, which is, when you squeeze out 8 bars of music that have as much skill and raw talent in them as Wynton makes when he's clearing his out his spit valve, then I'd listen, but forget that obvious approach.
The real lesson is, just like in the New Testament, people continue to stone the present day prophets while ever-adorning the tombs of the ones their ancestors killed. I wonder if this series would've even been made if it wasn't for Wynton. Some times we forget how low jazz (and by this I mean the various brass blowing, kiss ass swing dominated musical arts) got during the mid 70's and early 80's.
I mean, to get Acid Jazz, you've got to have jazz, ostensibly, right? Where would US 3 or the Braun Fellinis etc., have gotten the young musicians to do their gigs with, were it not for the fact that there were some kids playing jazz, and many, if not most, kids who studied jazz in the '80's probably picked it up off Wynton Marsalis. Criticize him all you want, but he has really been responsible for many of us hearing the sounds that we love today.
Oh, and btw, before criticizing this series again, publicly, ask yourself one simple question; "Does America suffer more from too much historical knowledge, or not enough?"
Hell, they could've and should've done 10 parts on Duke Ellington alone. Kudos to Burns. Jazz is dead.... long live Jazz!
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Wed Feb 07 2001 - 21:29:41 CET