[Dixielandjazz] Smithsonian Anthology

[dj outrage]

Stephen G Barbone wrote:
> Discussing the pros and cons of this kind of anthology is a circuitous
> path to nowhere. Some of the 6 billion people on this planet will love
> it, some will hate it and most will ignore it.
>
> Those of us who are record collectors, or jazz musicians, or fairly
> knowledgeable about jazz in general, or knowledgeable about some
> segments of the whole, will hate it for its incompleteness and its
> choices of which records to include. But then, how does one distill
> more than a century of jazz music into 6 CDs? It is an impossible
> task. Just as the Ken Burns examination of jazz was an impossible task
> in 15 hours or so, of TV.
>
> These kinds of anthologies are not for those in the above categories.
> They are more for the vast majority of people in the world who have
> little or no idea of what jazz is.
>
> In that respect I applaud them all, Swaggie, Smithsonian, Ken Burns,
> for what they have accomplished. Namely, to bring jazz into the minds
> of more people and open the door, even if ever so slightly, to a
> larger audience that will appreciate the music, both for what it was,
> and what it is.
>
> Remember the arguments that went round and round about Ken Burns and
> Marsalis a decade ago? While that series was far from perfect, it
> awakened an interest among the jazz challenged about jazz. From a
> personal point of view, it launched my band into a decade of over 1500
> performances in my local area. There was an enormous amount of
> curiosity about jazz generated, wherever you live, because of the
> program and we tied our advertising/promo into the program and
> audience / booker curiosity.
>
> Other bands who tied their marketing programs and promo pieces to
> "Jazz - America's Music" and the public curiosity also found it
> relatively easy to generate public gigs.
>
> Bottom line for The Smithsonian Anthology? Whether one sees it as
> excellent, good, mediocre, bad, or awful is beside the point. That it
> will increase the audience for jazz, and for our bands if we are just
> a little proactive, is to be commended and acted upon.
>
> Cheers,
> Steve Barbone
> www.myspace.com/barbonestreetjazzband
>
>
>
>
>
>
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There are 2 massive sets out there, the 168 cd ultimate jazz archive, and
the 500 cd world's greatest jazz collection, and i have both of those sets
in digital form and even they manage to miss something out.
just my two pence worth,
Rob