[Dixielandjazz] Listening to music

[Steve barbone]

"Edgerton, Paul A" <paul.edgerton at eds.com> wrote

> 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.

Umm, Paul, Just what is it about "Ben Webster taught me EVERYTHING I KNOW",
that you didn't understand? Suggest you keep reading it until the fact that
therefore "Everything" the man knows was taught to him by Ben Webster, sinks
in.  

> 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.

Presumably? No, no, there is no other valid presumption. Everything means
just that, everything. There was no modifier like "almost" The statement
speaks for itself on its face. In effect the man said he knows nothing
except what Webster taught him.

> 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.

No, no, it's like saying Feynman is trying to solve the same problems that
Einstein already solved, but can't because Einstein did not teach him
everything Einstein knew.

> 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...

Would you not rather play like Paul Edgarton? Who has absorbed the lessons
of all the great reed players, and now speaks about them with his own voice?

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

Yes, that is why it is pointless to cover the same ground all the time. Or
listen to the same records all the time. Or re-read the same books all the
time. Or re-paint the same pictures all the time, or get all locked up in a
little box that never changes. Once again, how boring, how sad.

A serious problem with many musicians is that they have not learned to
express the meaning of what they have read, or heard and are unable to speak
(through music) about the meaning with their own voices and also are unable
to add their own comment or two along with it. And so the current versions
of the old music stultify the art.

Cheers,
Steve Barbone