[Dixielandjazz] Listening to Music

[Edgerton, Paul A]

The original quote was:
"Ben Webster taught  me everything I know, but he hasn't taught me
 everything he knows."

Steve Barbone wrote:
"The bloke is admitting that he knows ONLY what Ben Webster taught
 him, and that Ben Webster did not teach him everything Webster knew."

Umm, Steve, you've read something into this that doesn't make sense. The man
said that he was taught a portion of Ben Webster's knowledge. He didn't say
that's ALL he knows.

Presumably, a man who enjoyed Ben Webster's attention also learned from
other prominent musicians. Unless I'm mistaken, you learned from Omer
Simeon, right? Would it be fair to say that you also learned from Kenny
Daverne? So the man quoted above would most likely have knowledge from other
players. Who knows? Maybe he put things together and came up with something
of his own.

Steve continued:
"How bloody sad, because what does that make him?
 
"A guy who plays like Ben Webster, except not as well.

"How very sad to achieve that kind of mediocrity in music. How many more of
 us like that are around, slowly destroying the music by subtracting from
it?"

I hope you're pulling my leg. That's like saying Feynman is a mediocre
physicist because he solves problems like Albert Einstein, only not as well.

I wish *I* played like Ben Webster, even if I never reach his level of
artistry. If the jazz world had more such mediocrity, it would be a better
place. Maybe I should write an essay on recombinant jazz...

This whole discussion reminds me of the line, "I taught him everything I
know -- and he's still stupid!"

-- Paul Edgerton