[Dixielandjazz] Cut & Paste on Recordings

[Stephen Barbone]

Mike Durham wrote:

> Steve Barbone wrote (extract):
>
> "Any change, especially on a live album, is a somewhat dishonest change".
>
> With respect, this is getting a bit silly. After all, Steve, you can't get a
> 2-hour concert on one CD. So we edit, make choices on what to
> include/exclude, maybe even alter the running order of the tunes. How is
> that dishonest?

The modifier of dishonest was "somewhat". If you snip a chorus, you invariably
snip the worst one right? I see that as "somewhat dishonest". If you leave out
an entire tune, no problem. As for "silly" I hope you didn't miss the satire.

> I agree that using electronics to produce a result that is
> unobtainable by the player(s) in real life is ethically debatable (certainly
> so if used to sell a band for live performances that will then end up being
> disappointing), but removing an intrusive reed-squeak from an otherwise
> great clarinet solo?

By correcting the mistake, we will never know if the result was obtainable or
unobtainable by the player(s) in real life. Only another take would make that
known. ;-)

> Certainly as a listener, I'd rather have the improved
> version, rather than being irritated every time I play the CD by a mistake
> that spoils an otherwise excellent performance.

I part company with you here. I want to hear the squeak as an indicator of what
the musician was trying to say. It represents his trying to reach for
something. I agree that most listeners probably want to hear an error free
take. But I want the warts too, believing that if you don't make any mistakes,
you are not trying to play jazz hard enough.

One of my favorite listens is Charlie Parker. The most favorite of his works,
for me, are the live recordings of his solos that Dean Benedetti made in joints
on a reel to reel recorder following Bird all over the country. Released on
Mosaic, it is full of squeaks, bad sound, etc. However, for me, what Bird say
via the horn on them is an incredible piece of musical history as well as a
great listen and insight into his incredible genius.

We all hear differently (especially the cosmic Bb) and what I put forth is how
I hear. That you hear differently is no surprise and that goes for they way all
of us hear. It is a personal issue, like Pee Wee Russell, who if cleaned up,
would make the jazz world for me, a much poorer place. He is one of my heroes.
Who knows, they might not have been mistakes, either.

Cheers,
Steve Barbone