[Dixielandjazz] Re: Dixielandjazz Digest, Vol 7, Issue 46

[Stephen Barbone]

> "Cees van den Heuvel" <heu at bart.nl> wrote:
>
> There is an easy way to test it for everyone.
> Listnen to an Armstrong vocal as many times
> as you think nessecary to get it right.
> Then play the record or CD and try to
> sing along. You'll find out you'll never get
> it exactly right, and will understand the miracle
> of Armstrong's timing!

Oh my, the thread was about trumpet playing, not singing. However, perform the same
test with trumpet solos by Clifford Brown, etc., and you will have the same
discomfort. Or do it with any of the jazz greats. I dare say, none of us on this list
are among the GREAT jazz players. You know, like Hackett, Butterfield, Armstrong,
Brown, Gillespie, Berrigan, Bix, Navarro, et al. So we are certainly not capable of
copying them.

Or try and copy Bix or Pee Wee Russell or Billie Holiday who only had about an octave
range. Nah, we can't do that either.

By the same token a trumpet player of Auturo Sandoval's talent has come close to
Armstrong without really trying.

I suspect that timing, like everything else can be copied exactly if some of the
current crop of great musicians wanted to spend the time doing it. But then, why would
talented musicians want to copy? The miracle of jazz is that it is a moving target. We
may not like, or even understand the direction it has moved in since 1940, but then
many others do like and do understand it. And for the rest of the jazz world, guys
like Clifford Brown are better trumpet players than Armstrong.

Cheers,
Steve