[Dixielandjazz] Jabbo Smith--who's scatting?/evolution in the arts

[Charles Suhor]

On Jan 16, 2015, at 5:54 PM, Marek Boym wrote:

> I object to seeking "stylistic evolutionary link(s)" to this or that musician (or author, or painter, for that matter).



I can't agree with a blanket rejection of stylistic links among practitioners of the arts. The artists themselves commonly acknowledge that others were influences in developing their styles and then taking the art in different, personal directions. I've heard that Dizzy once said to Louis, "No you, no me." I realize that some folks dislike the word "evolution," but the term doesn't necessarily imply that the subsequent form is superior to, or even more complex than, its antecedents. "Smooth jazz" is an example IMO of a sub-genre that lacks the vitality and invention of the modern jazz it sprang from. If Eric Satie is one of the originators of ambient music, the woo woo stuff I hear today is a devolution. I've been trying to latch on to current free jazz on youtube, but it doesn't seem to be more expressive than good bop, swing, or early jazz. Revivalist jazz of the banjo-and-tuba variety grew from early jazz, but if it has ever touched on the creativity of the music it references, I haven't heard it. Not all of those examples will hold up, but in the larger picture the history of the arts is reasonably seen as evolutionary, even when new forms spring up in dialectic protest of their predecessors. 

Charlie

On Jan 16, 2015, at 5:54 PM, Marek Boym wrote:

> I object to seeking "stylistic evolutionary link(s)" to this or that musician (or author, or painter, for that matter).