[Dixielandjazz] Negativity and Jazz Critics

Thu Jul 27 21:16:56 PDT 2006

Normally I have not been asked to critique a jazz CD but a former student 
and good friend asked me to listen to his first CD and let him know what I 
think.  Now this is about the same as a newspaper or other media asking a 
critic to write something.

In this instance he has teamed up with a Sax player that is better than I 
ever hope to be but here's the catch.  The guy has copied the Kenny G style 
so perfectly that I can't tell them apart.  Now does the world need another 
Kenny G? or Frank Sinatra or any other person who has hit big?  Actually the 
CD is pretty good with some technical problems that should have been 
addressed before running off a thousand or so.

Should I tell him it was great or should I point out the technical or 
musical problems with the CD so he doesn't make the same error twice?

There is a lot of good jazz out there but there is also a lot of bad jazz 
too.  If you only say good things you aren't being fair to the readers and 
worse to yourself.

It's the same thing if a teacher only gives A's and B's because he doesn't 
want to upset the little darlings or their parents.

Critics don't take the Hippocratic Oath and swear to do no harm but are paid 
(usually) to do a job and can't pick and choose.  If you can pick and choose 
then more power to you.
Larry Walton
St. Louis
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Steve Barbone" <barbonestreet at earthlink.net>
To: "DJML" <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Thursday, July 27, 2006 12:55 PM
Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Negativity and Jazz Critics

Here is an interesting view from a sometimes jazz critic.

Cheers,
Steve Barbone

The New Obligation Of The Jazz Critic
Published: October 4, 2003  - By Walter Kolosky

Jazz critics are supposed to like jazz. Yet, some of the most
pseudo-intellectual and vitriolic music reviews in print are turned in by
jazz writers. The current truth of the matter is that with every
nose-lowering review, these writers are helping to hasten the demise of jazz
as a commercially viable product. These critics, and they know who they are,
are unwittingly contributing to the passing of an art form that they claim
to love. Does that make any sense?

As a sometimes jazz critic, I have recently made a decision. I am never
going to write a bad review about a jazz album. That doesn?t mean I am going
to mislead readers and claim a jazz album is good even if it was the worst
pile I ever heard in my life. Instead, no longer am I going to write about
jazz music I don't like. I would rather share an examination of some jazz
that thrilled me so that my readers will immediately drop everything they
are doing and purchase the CD. I have simply decided to do something that
makes me feel as if I am contributing to the common good. Using my meager
status as a jazz critic to help further the cause of jazz will do that. Does
this make me a traitor to music journalism?

It is a tough call. There is certainly some bad jazz in the world. The
temptation to point this out overwhelms those critics that come out from the
dark shadows only when they have something vicious to say. I don?t have that
need.

³In a world in which a "hit" jazz record sells a measly 3,000 copies,
perhaps jazz criticism, in the traditional sense, has long since lost its
purpose. ²

Movie critics Roger Ebert and Richard Roeper love movies. Yet, it is not
unusual for them to bad-mouth a film that cost a company $200 million
dollars to make. Ebert and Roeper will insult and denigrate even the
greatest film makers. But they do so because they have respect for the art
of movie making and really know how great film can be if done the right way.
But more importantly they also know that while they have have loads of clout
and a negative review from them can help lower a film's box office take,
they have little effect on the multi-billion dollar film business.

Critics of the other arts are much in the same boat. Their learned,
sometimes on-the-money, reviews of architecture and paintings and sculpture
and other art forms touch only a few of the millions interested in those
areas. To those people, critics perform an important service. But, buildings
will continue to be built and paintings will continue to be painted despite
the protests of even the most respected naysayer.

Jazz critics on the other hand ply their trade in a commercial industry
which many people believe is dying. Their words have substantially larger
clout in a substantially smaller universe. Unduly negative reviews of the
creative process of jazz could eventually prove fatal to the very art these
critics claim to support.

Historically, jazz criticism has produced some of the most creative and
insightful writing found in all of contemporary literature. Scores of
negative reviews have been beautifully written. But times have changed.
Perhaps the role of the jazz critic should be reviewed itself. In a world in
which a "hit" jazz record sells a measly 3,000 copies, perhaps jazz
criticism, in the traditional sense, has long since lost its purpose.

This particular sporadic critic has no intention of wasting any more words
on bad jazz or humiliating the people who play it. I am going to write only
about music I admire. I now consider myself to be on a mission to further
the music that has furthered me.

Call it censorship if you want. Call it bad journalism if you want. I prefer
to call it a joyful obligation.

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