[Dixielandjazz] Jazz appreciation (was Give jazz a chance)

briantowers briantowers@msn.com
Wed, 17 Jul 2002 16:10:08 -0400


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Will,

You do have a lovely way of putting things and your slant on "tolerance" =
etc had me laughing my head off!  =20

I too was never turned on by the likes of Miles, Monk, Coltrane, Parker, =
Ornette Coleman etc, even when I was 20 years old, with sparkling brain =
cells, a fairly open mind and in full possession of all my faculties.   =
I  enjoyed Brubeck, Mulligan, Shearing, Kenton, MJQ etc so I am  not the =
ultimate "Mouldy fygge".

There again, I myself love musical genres which others might find =
tedious - Classical music (especially baroque), folk music, Spanish =
guitar, Brass band music, Taps, even the odd Paul McCartney and some =
Andrew Lloyd Webber, etc.

I am newly resolved, however not to "put down" modern jazz.  There are =
many folk, for whom I have great respect, who profess to enjoy it and =
get something musically rewarding out of it.  They are clearly wired =
differently to me.=20
For my part, my favourite music is strong on features like melody, =
emotion, rhythm, meaningful interplay between the musical voices and =
easily comprehensible improvisation which I can relate to the chord =
sequence and the tune.

I am convinced that I could listen and study Miles, Monk & co until =
"blue in the face" and it would never give me the joy I receive from =
OKOM.  As some-one else so brilliantly put it:  "Life is too short to be =
spent with an ugly woman"
But, there again, "beauty is in the eyes of the beholder"

"Chacun a son goute" as the French say.  (Sorry about the absence of =
accents!)

As I have now mercifully run out of cliches, I will sign off!
Regards,
Brian Towers,
Hot Five Jazzmakers, Toronto, Canada
Band web site:            http://hotfivejazz.tripod.com


As Will wrote so amusingly:

> Ah, gentlemen  . . .
>=20
> I must insert a word for intolerance here. At one glance, I was able =
to
> determine that I like Reubens (and Petty and Vargas) and found Picasso
> offensive. Jaguars never appealed, ditto the Edsel, and the most
> beautiful automobile I've seen since I owned a 1935 Packard =
convertible
> with rumble seat and sediments was the Broward TS Sports Coupe that no
> one ever heard of.
>=20
> Exactly as I have been able to reach instantaneous conclusions with
> respect to visual arts, so it is that I am content to follow Pat's
> advice and ignore all iterations of music that require the Highway
> Patrol and sniffer dogs to find the melody or which are filled with
> alien and painful progressions. These rejections are not the fruit of
> old brain cells - I have loathed crap of all kinds for years and years
> and have no intention of subjecting myself to anything as unpleasant =
as
> modern jazz, Andrew Lloyd Webbed or Kenny G. to demonstrate tolerance. =
I
> have none and damned well don't want any. =20
>=20
> It helps to be Irish.
>=20
> Kindly
>=20
> Will Connelly


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<BODY>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2>Will,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2>You do have a lovely way of putting things and your =
slant on=20
"tolerance" etc&nbsp;had me laughing my head off!&nbsp;&nbsp; =
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2>I too was never turned on by the likes of Miles, =
Monk,=20
Coltrane, Parker, Ornette Coleman etc, even when I was 20 years old, =
with=20
sparkling brain cells, a fairly open mind&nbsp;and in full possession of =
all my=20
faculties.&nbsp;&nbsp; I&nbsp; enjoyed Brubeck, Mulligan, Shearing, =
Kenton, MJQ=20
etc so I am&nbsp; not the ultimate "Mouldy fygge".</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2>There again, I myself love musical genres which =
others might=20
find tedious - Classical music (especially baroque), folk music, Spanish =
guitar,=20
Brass band music, Taps, even&nbsp;the odd Paul McCartney and some Andrew =
Lloyd=20
Webber, etc.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2>I am newly resolved, however&nbsp;not to "put down" =
modern=20
jazz.&nbsp; There are many folk, for whom I have great respect, who =
profess to=20
enjoy it and get something musically rewarding out of it.&nbsp; They are =
clearly=20
wired differently to me. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2>For my part, my favourite music is strong on =
features like=20
melody, emotion, rhythm, meaningful interplay between the musical=20
voices&nbsp;and easily comprehensible improvisation which&nbsp;I can =
relate to=20
the chord sequence and the tune.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2>I am convinced that I could listen and study Miles, =
Monk &amp;=20
co until "blue in the face" and it would never give me the joy I receive =
from=20
OKOM.&nbsp; As some-one else so brilliantly put it:&nbsp; </FONT><FONT=20
size=3D2>"Life is too short to be spent with an ugly woman"</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2>But, there again, "beauty is in the eyes of the=20
beholder"</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2>"Chacun a son goute" as the French say.&nbsp; (Sorry =
about the=20
absence of accents!)</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2>As I have now mercifully run out of cliches, I will =
sign=20
off!</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2>Regards,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2>Brian Towers,<BR>Hot Five Jazzmakers, Toronto, =
Canada<BR>Band=20
web =
site:&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;=20
</FONT><A href=3D"http://hotfivejazz.tripod.com"><FONT=20
size=3D2>http://hotfivejazz.tripod.com</FONT></A><BR></DIV>
<DIV><BR><FONT size=3D2>As Will wrote so amusingly:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2>&gt; Ah, gentlemen&nbsp; . . .<BR>&gt; <BR>&gt; I =
must insert=20
a word for intolerance here. At one glance, I was able to<BR>&gt; =
determine that=20
I like Reubens (and Petty and Vargas) and found Picasso<BR>&gt; =
offensive.=20
Jaguars never appealed, ditto the Edsel, and the most<BR>&gt; beautiful=20
automobile I've seen since I owned a 1935 Packard convertible<BR>&gt; =
with=20
rumble seat and sediments was the Broward TS Sports Coupe that =
no<BR>&gt; one=20
ever heard of.<BR>&gt; <BR>&gt; Exactly as I have been able to reach=20
instantaneous conclusions with<BR>&gt; respect to visual arts, so it is =
that I=20
am content to follow Pat's<BR>&gt; advice and ignore all iterations of =
music=20
that require the Highway<BR>&gt; Patrol and sniffer dogs to find the =
melody or=20
which are filled with<BR>&gt; alien and painful progressions. These =
rejections=20
are not the fruit of<BR>&gt; old brain cells - I have loathed crap of =
all kinds=20
for years and years<BR>&gt; and have no intention of subjecting myself =
to=20
anything as unpleasant as<BR>&gt; modern jazz, Andrew Lloyd Webbed or =
Kenny G.=20
to demonstrate tolerance. I<BR>&gt; have none and damned well don't want =

any.&nbsp; <BR>&gt; <BR>&gt; It helps to be Irish.<BR>&gt; <BR>&gt;=20
Kindly<BR>&gt; <BR>&gt; Will Connelly<BR></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>

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