[Dixielandjazz] Re: Good and Bad Music

[Stephen Barbone]

Mike Durham wrote:

> >Kurt wrote:
> >Wasn't it Louis Armstrong who said, "There's two kinds of music - Good
> >and Bad."?
>
> Yes, but he also referred to bop as "That modern malice" and "Chinese music"
> - maybe he mellowed in later years! Actually, I think it was Duke who said
> the good/bad thing: Louis did, however, famously reply to a lady who asked
> him if jazz was folk music "All music is folk music - I never heard a horse
> play anything!"

Kurt, Mike & List mates:

The references by Louis about "chinese music", and "that modern malice"  etc.,
are examples of the out of context press hype that distorts the reader's
conception of what was going on. Further reading about Louis Armstrong reveals
that he almost takes credit for bop trumpet lines, calling them figurations
that he used to play before Joe Oliver straightened him out about playing
melody.

The snips above were taken from discussions between interviewers and Louis
where the main thrust of the discussion was then fragmentation of jazz into
different styles. Both Louis and Dizzy, when asked about it in the context of
their respective styles losing ground and audience to the other's would
naturally respond with some hubris. Perhaps something like: Modern Jazz?, Nah,
I'm not worried about that chinese music was said and a clever editor then cuts
it down to: Louis Armstrong says :Modern Jazz is "chinese music."

Very similar to my remarks in the last digest about "British Trad" which had a
smiley icon next to it. If quoted alone, out of context, whether now, or a year
from now, it will appear that I do not like British Trad. Not the case. I like
that which is played by good bands and do not like that which is played by not
so good bands. One has to read the entire post in order to understand the
nuances of what I actually said.

As John Farrell so accurately pointed out, just because something is written
down, that does not mean it is necessarily right. (Especially if it has been
edited)

So when we pick a sentence or a phrase out of a paragraph or two and try to use
is as gospel proof about some matter unrelated to the original context, we are
almost guaranteed to be less than accurate and often, dead wrong. These are
very much like the "sound bites" that politicians use to "prove"  that the
other guy is a bum.

Fact is, Gillespie and Armstrong were friends, respected each other as men and
respected the music the other guy played. In fact, Gillespie was well grounded
in Dixieland Jazz, and played it the 1950s, subbing for Charlie Shavers one
night at the Metropole in NYC. He was flanked by Big Chief Russell Moore TB,
and Tony Parenti on Clarinet. According to Parenti who enjoyed that evening,
Dizzy also enjoyed it immensely and knew all the tunes.

Cheers,
Steve Barbone