[Dixielandjazz] Criticism and quotes - was Leonard Feather

[Stephen G Barbone]

On Jul 16, 2011, at 6:07 PM, Marek Boym wrote: (polite snip)


>> Barbone wrote (polite snip)
>> And there was always the myth that Miles hated white people. Spread  
>> mostly
>> by the press and folks who didn't know Miles.
>
> Not only.  And those that perpetuated it were shocked when Miles hired
> Bill Evans.  He must have said something to the effect that he
> wouldn't hire a white musician, but his reply to the protesters was
> that when he finds a black pianist who can play like Bill Evans he
> would hire him (not in quotes, because it's not the exact quote).  And
> "The Birth of Cool" was not exactly a one-race record.

Dear Marek:

Miles said on numerous occasions and on a Feather Blindfold Test that  
except for Stan Getz and Al Cohn,  that: "White saxophonists sound  
alike."

No doubt partially a put on about an oft quoted white view that "all  
blacks look alike." Or perhaps he was signifying. <grin>

However he later hired white saxophonist Dave Liebman and they  
remained together for a long period of time with Miles various  
electronic funk music presentations.

Point being that when critics take snippets and quote them out of  
context to reinforce a point, they may reflect an accurate  
representation of how someone really felt. eg. If Miles really thought  
all white saxophonists sounded alike except for Cohn and Getz, why did  
he hire Liebman (and go to great lengths to keep him) instead of  
someone else, white or black, at lesser cost and lesser ability?

I think selective quoting out of context is a basic fault of many  
critics, whether musical, political or whatever. They focus on a tiny  
point or quote, sometimes from decades ago, and then blow it up into a  
major happening so as to make a musical or ideological point sound  
much more logical than it really is.

Cheers
Steve Barbone
www.myspace.com/barbonestreetjazzband