jazz

Watching this PBS jazz series has again brought home just how
stagnant the form has become lately, with Wynton leading the charge.
Metheny, rather humorously, said in a recent interview, that
Marsalis..."decided to wear a suit and play for old people." True Kansas
City talk...for some reason, the world of jazz seems to be flooded with
songs that sound like stuff that happened years ago, even down to
Wallace Roney redoing "Bitches Brew..." and, some sorry shit that is.
Why doesn't Roney write something of his OWN, rather than try to redo a
masterpiece? I'm not sure there's an easy answer, but retro is not hip
to those trying to be original, and go where no one has yet gone. And,
with the incoming political bunch, I expect the mood of the country to
go even more conservative and backwards....which means, folks who do
creative art should try even harder to do their best work, as an
antidote to the reactionary times ahead. Miles had a great quote, while
referring to those jazzers who were just replaying all the bop licks
from 40 years earlier..."It's like going to bed with an old person who
even smells old..."
I look to the folks on this list, as well as others around the globe
who are like minded, to forge ahead into the future, and do something
profound and meaningful, and bring mystery and beauty to music once
again...Hstick

Neil Haverstick wrote,

>Wallace Roney redoing "Bitches Brew..." and, some sorry shit that is.
>Why doesn't Roney write something of his OWN, rather than try to redo a
>masterpiece?

I wasn't aware that Roney redid "Bitches Brew", but Roney's new album is
quite wonderful, modern jazz! I'm sure, if he redid Bitches Brew, he only
meant it as a tribute to his mentor Miles, and would neither presume to do
it better, nor claim that this is where jazz is today.

--- In tuning@egroups.com, "Neil Haverstick" <STICK@U...> wrote:

http://www.egroups.com/message/tuning/17717

> Watching this PBS jazz series has again brought home just
> how stagnant the form has become lately, with Wynton leading
> the charge. <... snip...> ...for some reason, the world of jazz
> seems to be flooded with songs that sound like stuff that
> happened years ago, even down to Wallace Roney redoing "Bitches
> Brew..." and, some sorry shit that is. Why doesn't Roney write
> something of his OWN, rather than try to redo a masterpiece? I'm
> not sure there's an easy answer, but retro is not hip to those
> trying to be original, and go where no one has yet gone.

Hi Neil,

Your points are valid assuming that jazz must continually express
something new, but I for one can see the other side of the coin.
There's a lot of really terrific stuff that's already been written,
and many folks are beginning to treat jazz tunes like classical
pieces... that is, finding a way to express your original musical
ideas in your performance or interpretation of something that
someone else wrote. I'm perfectly willing to accept both
approaches. The Burns PBS documentary, with its emphasis on
the *historical* aspects of the development of jazz, clearly
follows this "classical" approach.

-monz