[Dixielandjazz] Fwd: Secretary of Arts for USA

[pj.ladd]

You need a third ear to begin to comprehend what they are playing!! >>

Hi Louis,

I went to one of those concerts on Saturday. It was supposed to be a concert 
in remembrance of  Miles Kington, well known writer and wit, inventor of 
Franglais,  musician, bass player with Instant Sunshine at one point. He 
lived locally  and supported the local jazz scene. He wrote one of his 
`franglais` pieces `Jazz dans le pub` based on a band in Bath I was playing 
with at the time.

I had expected the evening to include some decent jazz plus a few 
remembrances and a few readings from his stuff
In fact we had a piano solo from a scruffbag who looked like a smaller and 
dirtier version of Alexai Sayle. He wore a pair of filthy shoes which 
matched his equally dirty trousers which complemented a dirty white sweat 
shirt. This was topped off by another dirty white sweat shirt. An insult to 
his audience.
He played a `tune` which started with some sonorous chords into which was 
eventually introduced a melody line. This got more and more complicated 
until he was playing some very clever, technical and tuneless stuff.  He 
stood on one foot. He crouched over the keyboard and sat down again. He 
fiddled with a piece of paper which he had laid on top of the piano strings 
inside the open top. I have no idea why.
When he finished that piece he introduced one of his pupils. Slightly 
smarter looking and with long hair, wavy and down to his collar. They played 
a duet.  He introduced another pupil with whom he played another duet.
These `tunes` were apparently all from the Thelonius Monk, Byrd, etc period. 
A time when in my opinion jazz hit the buffers with the discovery of the 
flattened fifth.
Some one should tell these guys that in jazz it is what you leave out, not 
the number of notes you can squeeze in that does the trick.
After spending nearly ten minutes removing one of the grand pianos and 
rearranging  the miles of wiring which festooned the floor we then had  a 
quintette. Bass, who was good, drums who was following some beat of his own, 
including staring at the ceiling and banging the snare with his hands and 
clapping, a couple of saxes and a flute playing something by Chick Corea. 
This had a complicated rythm,as you migh expect,a wailing sax line which I 
thought at one point sounded vaguely familiar while the  flute peeped around 
in that nice sound which is usually the top line in a bossa.. .

After that, thank heaven it was the Interval. We asked around to try and 
find out what was going to be played  in  the second half. No one seemed to 
know so we cut our losses and went home.

What a wasted evening but I bet there was a grant somewhere along the line.

Cheers

Pat