[Dixielandjazz] Re: Better Players

[Richard Broadie]

On intro of Louis Armstrong's  West End Blues, he plays every note in the
chromatic scale compressed in very few measures.  For his time,. Louis was
harmoniclly on the moon!

Clifford was extremely crative and talened but was exposed to a vastly
different musical environment in his development than that of Armstrong
which, of course, provided Clifford with an entirely different reference
point both in time and harmonic genre.

I can see absolutely no point in arguing as to which is the better musician,
by any criteria.

To me, a far more interesting question is what if Louis had been born in
Wilmington, DE in 1930 and Clifford in New Orleans LA circa 1901.   Would
the roles be reversed?

Dick Broadie

----- Original Message -----
From: <JimDBB at aol.com>
To: <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Tuesday, July 15, 2003 11:11 AM
Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] Re: Better Players


> In a message dated 7/15/2003 9:24:21 AM Central Standard Time,
> barbonestreet at earthlink.net writes:
>
> > Regarding someone's comment that Clifford Brown couldn't play what Louis
> > played, that is just not the case. Clifford
> > had all the ammunition. Excellent tone, great feel/fire, great ideas,
and a
> > great melodic approach. To deny that he
> > outplays Louis is simply a case of tunnel vision, or being stuck in the
> > musical time warp of the 1920s / 30s.
> >
> > Many players today easily replicate exactly what Louis played. I can
recall
> > Peter Ecklund doing so, as well as others.
> > The hard part is the fire, the feeling, and the fact that Louis was THE
> > ORIGINATOR.
> >
> > But then, as powerful as they are, fire and feel are subjective measures
as
> > interpreted by each of us differently. The
> > numbered measurements above are completely objective. If you answer
"yes" to
> > them regarding a player like Brown what
> > possible conclusion can you reach except that Brown plays better?
>
>   Cripes...do I have to keep repeating myself.  Nobody, dead or alive can
> play Louis Armstrong's classic solos ( say West End Blues or Potato Head
Blues)
> with the same phrasing and timing.  many have tried and all failed.
>
>   You are assuming because one may seem to have the technical facility,
that
> he can easily crack off an Armstrong solo.  But you are overlooking
> Armstrong's masterful phrasing and timing, and that glistening sound.
those things
> cannot be duplicated.  As you said your self, the hard part is the fire,
the
> feeling...these guys don't have it.
>
> If I had 1000K I would place it out there for anyone who could duplicate
an
> Armstrong solo to the satisfaction of a small and select group of judges.
>
> Jim Beebe
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