[Dixielandjazz] Interesting Article From The Chicago Tribune

[Robert S. Ringwald]

So the pop music industry is shocked - shocked! - that a 67-year-old jazz
musician won the album of the year award at Sunday's Grammy Awards.

In an industry long dominated by youth, rock and rap, the thinking goes,
there's no way a senior citizen such as Herbie Hancock could have taken the
trophy for "River: The Joni Letters," a tribute to folkie Joni Mitchell.

Relax. There's a lot less than meets the eye, or ear, here. For starters, in
no way is Hancock's opus a jazz recording. Like much of the former
Chicagoan's work in recent years, "River" leans toward pop accessibility and
easygoing tunefulness. If you think this is jazz, then you're likely to
confuse Amy Whinehouse- er, Winehouse - with Charlie Parker.

More important, the Grammys care little about jazz, or any other field that
doesn't generate massive sales. Genres such as jazz, classical, folk - you
know, the idioms for grown-ups - do not bask in the spotlight of the Grammy 
program. Instead,
they're mostly confined to the tiny type in newspapers (or their Web sites).

Oh, sure, every once in awhile, the Grammy folks magnanimously will toss the
big award to an artist with some connection to jazz, past or present.

Remember when Tony Bennett won album of the year for "MTV Unplugged" (1994),
literally the worst recording of an otherwise illustrious career? Or to
Natalie Cole 's eminently forgettable "Unforgettable" (1991), in which -
through the wonders of technology - she famously sang a duet with her
long-dead father (the jazzi con Nat "King" Cole)? That's about as deep as
the Grammys get when it comes to bringing jazz, and comparable genres, to
the main event.

Some might argue that by spotlighting the efforts of Hancock, Bennett and
Cole, the Grammys at least are introducing a huge audience to acoustic music
outside the rock-rap juggernaut. In this way, say Grammy boosters, listeners
may discover the real thing. That's like arguing that eating Big Macs will
develop your palate for filet mignon. Or that the saxophone bleatings of
Kenny G will prepare you for the glories of Louis Armstrong. Alas, the gulf
between the real thing and the commercial alternative cannot be so easily
finessed.

As for Hancock, he remains one of the greatest jazz musicians of our time -
just listen to one of his jazz recordings, which you will not be
encountering at the Grammy awards any time soon.

-30

--Bob Ringwald K6YBV
530/642-9551
916/806-9551 Cell
www.ringwald.com
Fulton Street Jazz Band
See our new CD, www.ringwald.com/recordings.htm

"I can resist everything except temptation."  --Oscar Wilde, 1854 - 1900