[Dixielandjazz] The Trouble with Gary (and perhaps some "jazz" fans)

[Steve barbone]

The following is from the All About Jazz Newsletter. It is a LONG but
interesting read for those who can relate the message to certain fans of
OKOM who repeatedly disrespect other forms of music, and/or some musicians.

BTW, All About Jazz may be read at http://www.allaboutjazz.com

Of course many on the DJML also dissed it 4 years ago when I first posted
about its existence. The monthly newsletter is a GREAT resource for Jazz
information, though much broader in context than OKOM.

Cheers,
Steve Barbone


The Trouble With Gary: An Open Letter to the Jazz Community

By John Dworkin - June 2005 NYC - Posted in July AAJ Newsletter

(This article was written to be distributed at last night's Keith Jarrett
Trio concert at Carnegie Hall. This explains a few of the initial
references.) 

Knowing ahead of time that the writing and distribution of this small
missive may upset some gives me pause. To some this will seem an immature
prank. Still others may feel me mean-spirited, a day late and a dollar
short. A day late I'll give you. Nevertheless, I feel strongly about the
issues and attitudes brought to light by Gary Peacock's appearance in Lee
Konitz's group at the Iridium jazz club back in November of 2003.
Distributing this article, at this venue, on this night, is obviously not
coincidental. However, my intention is not to offend, shock or hurt the
artists or patrons of this concert. Rather, it merely happens to be a rare
opportune moment to find the audience my message is intended to reach.

Jazz, in many of its varied incarnations, is a soulful, intelligent, and
challenging music - but certainly not the only style that deserves love and
respect. NYC jazz fans will already be familiar with the story, but let me
summarize the event in question for those unfamiliar:

On one of the nights Gary Peacock was appearing in Lee Konitz's group at the
Iridium, Elvis Costello was scheduled to ³sit in² and sing a tune or two as
part of a birthday celebration for Mr. Konitz. Costello arrived at about
5:30 p.m. with music for the group. For about 20 minutes Costello, guitarist
Bill Frisell and drummer Matt Wilson (I don't recall whether Konitz was
there this early; he may have been) went over the music together and ran
through the tunes on the stage in the club. While this occurred, Peacock sat
eating an early dinner at a table on the floor about 20 feet in front of the
stage. After going over the music with Frisell and Wilson, Costello walked
over to where Peacock was eating. Peacock was unwilling to play on the
couple of tunes Costello was to perform with the rest of the group. They
spoke for a few minutes, then Costello left and did not return. Costello was
rather understandably upset by this snubbing, but whatever else was said in
this short exchange was inaudible to the rest of us in the room. During and
after the performance, quite predictably, there were many disappointed and
puzzled Costello fans who had come to see him perform in the context of a
jazz group and club.

Soon thereafter, Bill Milkowski quoted Peacock as saying, ³I don't play
backup to no rock star,² in JazzTimes magazine. I was/am personally offended
and embarrassed by Peacock's shameless public display of musical elitism.
Also, his use of the term ³rock star² most likely hints at his lack of
familiarity with Costello's music and career as that term doesn't really
fit, but this is a relatively semantic point. Is this kind of exaggerated,
smug, self-important behavior deserving of our respect and support? The
scant reporting (cursory at best by only a few) and lack of discussion on
this incident in the jazz community makes us complicit with this type of
jive attitude. This is why I'm writing this article: to be sure I've done my
part to counter Peacock's actions. I don't write for the New York Times,
JazzTimes, or DownBeat, so this is one of the only avenues available to me
to reach our community with my concerns. While I harbor no illusions as to
the impact of my writing, I also have no good reason to stay silent and do
nothing. Our respect of an artist's ability (Peacock is unquestionably a
great bassist) shouldn't mute our criticisms of their actions when they're
hurtful, inciteful and plainly vain. That's celebrity worship. Peacock's
public disrespect and shunning of Costello could be seen as a reflection of
the jazz community's attitude in general and this is why we must react.
There is no doubt in my mind that a large majority of the jazz community
(artists and fans) does NOT share Peacock's elitist disrespect toward
Costello and the best pop/rock has to offer as a style/artform, which is
well represented by Costello himself. Jazz music is universally regarded as
the most malleable, inclusive and open-minded of styles. What a shame it
would be to forfeit that reputation through a lack of respect for the very
styles that contribute to its existence. How many people unfamiliar with
jazz heard about this event and were turned off to the music? If it's one,
that's one too many.

It's difficult to imagine a musical scenario in which someone behaves more
disrespectfully than Peacock. Imagine Chick Corea being a guest performer
with the London Philharmonic Orchestra (as he has done) and the bass section
of the orchestra refusing to play on Corea's piece ³Spain² during the
program. You may think this a poor analogy, but it is not. First, Costello
is as highly regarded in his field (singer/songwriter/ lyricist in pop/rock)
as Corea is in the jazz world. But more importantly, the analogy is sound
NOT because the musical styles necessarily have the same relationships (ie:
jazz is to classical as pop/rock is to jazz), but because these elitists
(whether jazz or classical) make the same intellectual or philisophical
blunder in their critical attitude toward music. Their blunder is this:
Believing that a piece of music, an artist or a style of music has less
meaning, value or merit simply by virtue of its being technically easier to
play (requires less instrumental facility), or because a piece's harmonic
and melodic content are simpler. If judging music (or other arts) in this
way was valid, Chick Corea's playing and writing would have more meaning and
value than Thelonious Monk's, Pat Metheny's more than B.B. King's,
Radiohead's more than Big Joe Turner, Michael Brecker's more than Johnny
Hodges, T.S. Eliot's ³Prufrock² more than Robert Frost's ³The Road Not
Taken,² etc... 

My point is not that one should never ³judge² another artist; or that
instrumental virtuousity, advanced melodic and harmonic ideas, or the
ability to improvise are unimportant. But their level of importance in
³judging² an artist's work depends on the musical context. Song form, lyric
content, vocal quality, intensity, stage presence, etc... These factors are
much more important than the former when dealing with music in the
singer/songwriter, pop/rock tradition. Peacock seeing Costello as an
inferior artist because he can't cut it on ³Giant Steps² is like Costello
judging Peacock as inferior because he can't compose songs and lyrics as
fine as ³Almost Blue² and ³Everyday I Write The Book,² or because he can't
sing ³God Give Me Strength² at his level. It's ridiculous!

When it's all said and done, Peacock could easily say, ³Hey, it's a free
country. I do what I wanna do and if you don't like it, that's too bad.² And
I can understand that. The problem is this: Even if his vision of Costello's
music as being so inferior to his own was valid (obviously I don't think it
is), he still made the wrong choice. He chose his vision of being an artist
over being a compassionate human being. This is always the wrong choice.
People who support Peacock's actions will cite the fact that Miles Davis,
Charles Mingus, etc..., may not have been the nicest people either. However,
having a bad attitude and being a mean person is never a prerequisite to
being a great artist. Never. Artists who justify their rudeness by trying to
conflate it with their artistic process or, worse, with an ²artistic
nature,² are cowards. I invite Peacock to issue a public apology to
Costello, but I don't expect one will be made.

Lastly, please forgive my lack of willpower in going ahead with this closing
quote, in which I have substituted only a couple minor words/phrases. The
original context was on a different subject; but maybe not so very
different: 

³There's a point where it's up to history, but if the jazz world is saying
this is good, accepting this, we're creating a new generation of people who
are not really [open-minded to the possibilities]... I don't feel envious of
[Gary Peacock], I feel sorry for him.²

Peace, Love, & Understanding,

John Dworkin, June, 2005, NYC