[Dixielandjazz] Rock and Roll is Jazz - Duke Ellington

[Robert S. Ringwald]

Thanks for the info Steve.

Just goes to show you, nobody is perfect.  Boy did Ellington have it 
wrong...

He certainly was not around long enough to hear what is being passed off as 
music these days.

I'll bet if he had lived so long, he would certainly recant that statement.

--Bob Ringwald


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Steve Barbone" <barbonestreet at earthlink.net>
To: "Bob Ringwald" <robert at ringwald.com>
Cc: "Dixieland Jazz Mailing List" <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Friday, August 17, 2007 10:38 PM
Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Rock and Roll is Jazz - Duke Ellington


> "Robert S. Ringwald" <robert at ringwald.com>
>
>> Steve Barbone wrote:
>>
>> (snip)
>>> Duke Ellington said more than once in the 1960s that rock & roll
>>> was the most updated form of jazz.
>> ()snip)
>>
>> Steve,
>>
>> Where did he say that?  In what context?
>>
>> I am sure he could have made a misstatement . . . . Or could you call it 
>> a
>> mistake???
>>
>> I made a mistake once and now I have a wife and 3 kids...
>
> No mistake on Ellington's part or mine, Bob.
>
> The source is a 2 page article that Duke Ellington wrote, in "Music 
> Journal"
> March 1962 on pages 31 and 96. He was asked the question, "Where Is Jazz
> Going." which is the title of the article.
>
> The relevant part of that article says: (quoting Duke below)
>
> "Recently I was asked whether I felt jazz had moved a great distance away
> from its folk origins. With the present state of Rock 'n' Roll music I 
> don't
> know how anyone can even consider asking such a question! Rock 'n' Roll is
> the most raucous form of jazz, beyond a doubt; it maintains a link with 
> the
> folk origins, and I believe that no other form of jazz has ever been
> accepted so enthusiastically by so many."
>
> "This is probably an easy medium of musical semantics for the people to
> assimilate. I'm not trying to imply by this that Rock 'n' Roll shows any
> single trend, or indicates the only direction in which things are moving. 
> it
> is simply one aspect of many."
>
> "I have written a number of Rock 'n' Roll things myself, but am saving 
> them
> for possible use in a show." Etc., etc., etc.
>
> The article, while a bit rambling is certainly interesting and recommended
> reading. I believe it was also published in "The Duke Ellington Reader",
> Oxford University Press but have not checked to verify it. Too late in the
> evening.
>
> Of special interest to me were his closing statements: "If it sounds good 
> it
> is successful; if it doesn't it has failed" . . . "And let's not worry 
> about
> whether the result is jazz or this or that type of performance. Let's just
> say that what we're all trying to create, in one way or another, is 
> music."
>
> That is my point in a nutshell. Jazz, ill defined as it may be, is in the
> ears of the individual listener.  "Jazz" does not reside exclusively in 
> the
> brain of some academician or "knowledgeable fan" who thinks he/she knows,
> and can therefore tell others what jazz is, or is not, who plays it and 
> who
> does not, what instruments should be used, etc.
>
> Cheers,
> Steve Barbone
>
> PS. Those who were around in 1962 will remember that all sorts of "jazz"
> segments were happening. Ornette Coleman, John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk,
> Eric Dolphy etc., etc., etc. Ellington never mentions them in his article,
> just Rock 'n' Roll. Interesting that he related R & R to folk jazz roots.
>
>
>
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