[Dixielandjazz] Another view of "Tribute" Bands

[Jazzjerry at aol.com]

In a message dated 2/11/03 2:45:12 pm, barbonestreet at earthlink.net writes:


> That being
> said, it offers one man's view of one of the things he thinks is wrong
> with jazz these days and parallels can easily be drawn about OKOM. IMO,
> worth the read whether you agree with it or not.
> 

Steve,

It seems that the writers who make the sort of comments have one very 
important premis behind all of their thoughts and that is that jazz must reach out 
for 'new music'. As the anonumous writer says "They're pursuing a long-lost, 
gentle-age ideal, and stubbornly refusing to engage what's happening around 
them." I will always dispute this premis and would go so far as to say that this 
trendy outlook is what is actually killing the music. Why is it that a 
performance of Wagner's 'Ring Cycle' at a music festival is considered as great music 
and 'art' whereas the performance of the complete recorded works of (For 
example) King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band would be considered as "like a threat to the 
very health of the form." Very odd. 

I mentioned that I had promoted a gig the other night which was billed as a 
'Tribute to Chet Baker'. It consisted of a singer and quintet (all excellent 
musicians) playing their interpretations and variations of original arrangements 
of tunes associated with Baker. They were not copying his playing   but 
paying a tribute to him. It was really a peg on which to hang a selection of tunes. 
This evening I attended an excellent concert by a lady jazz singer and 
quartet at a local theatre which consisted of her singing a selection from the Great 
American Song-book. No original material but just over two hours of excellent 
jazz singing and playing. To suggest that these sort of gigs are killing jazz 
is absolute poppycock.

What is killing jazz is the sort of Emperor's New Clothes music described 
from the same article as:-

"The strings and horns are tangled in a heap. They wail like wounded
animals, afraid and brutalized, in an outburst designed to decisively
punctuate James Carter's version of "Strange Fruit," the Billie Holiday
classic about racial lynching.

The sonic punishment lasts more than a minute, and as you listen, one
thought is inescapable: This is, without a doubt, the 2003 edition of
"Strange Fruit." Loud and outsized. Raw. Extravagant in tone and
temperament, it's a sharp contrast to the desolate, sorrow-filled
silences Holiday used more than 50 years ago to tell the tale."

Judging by these couple of paragraphs an evening listening to this 
pretentious tripe sounds to be about as much fun as a bout of dysentery and it is highly 
unlikely that it improves one iota upon the masterpiece it allegedly 
dedicated to!

Cheers,
Jerry
Norwich,
U.K.