Jazz for aficionados

O - haven’t checked out the Lew Tabackin yet, but I will.

I’m with you on acquired taste - mostly. Sometimes, though, people you respect make recommendations...food, drink, music, books, whatever and it’s worth investing a little extra time in something that might not immediately appeal. Of course, sometimes this just ends up confirming one’s initial reaction and better judgement!

Funny, on the oysters. My intro to them might have been one of the best places to have ’em. Used to work (contractor) in Gulf Coast refineries and chem plants. Food in Louisiana some of the best anywhere. Go to dinner at Ralph ’n’ Kacoos in Baton Rouge on Airline Highway. They did sell to a chain but when the family still owned it quality was consistently good (but what’s a damn Yankee know, ’cept it was locals that took us). Blackened redfish when that was "in". Barman would shuck oysters right there and whip up cocktail sauce too. Horseradish, catsup, lemon juice and Tabasco...might be leaving something out (Lea & Perrins?). It always seemed it was the cocktail sauce that made them, though. After a July day in a plant wearing Nomex and the rest of your safety gear, a cold, cold mug of Abita Amber and those oysters as appetizer were very enjoyable.

I will get to your Mr. Tabackin

If I like smoked oysters, that doesn't count, I guess?

Only if you can complete the trifecta by including escargot, O.

As with music, "acquired taste" presumes open mindedness to the possibilities of the unfamiliar.  In part, its a mindset.  Is one going to be the type of individual who is always looking to the past for the coziness of the familiar or is one going to remain open to the possibility that there may be something just as good or better in the new.  There may be healthy skepticism toward the new, but when it blinds us to the potential of the new and puts the familiar on a pedestal without any skepticism, it's not a good thing, imo.  Example:

From my vantage point there has been as much "old" jazz (I dislike "jazz-jazz") posted here that I would consider mediocre or even sub-par as there has been "new" jazz that I can say the same about.  This goes to what I think is a key question that never receives a satisfactory answer in the endless debate about old vs. new jazz:

What purpose, exactly, does it serve to hold on to a stance that always looks back in time for the only "good" jazz?  Does this make the staunch old-jazz fan a better or more appreciative listener by being closed to the possibilities of the new?  No way, and certainly not if one considers ALL that gets posted here as "good".  Moreover, I don't read any particularly insightful comments or explanations as to why old jazz is always "better" other than "I say it is". "new jazz is noise", or "Wynton says it is".  Nobody is saying that The Jazz Pistols are on the same artistic level as Coltrane; that would be silly.  However, I don't think that this is the issue.  Importantly, I don't think that there is anyone here who likes new-jazz that doesn't also like quality old-jazz; it seems that the reverse is not true.  Why does it bother some that others find value in some new-jazz and can appreciate both new and old as long as it is of high quality?  Does it "protect" old jazz by being closed to what the new has to offer?  No way.  In fact, I would say that being so close-minded toward new jazz and insulting of those who like it only serves to sour the new jazz listeners to exploring the old.  

O-10, Lew Tabackin, with the possible exception of Hubert Laws is the most accomplished flute player in jazz today; accomplished as an instrumentalist.  Whether he is anyone's favorite jazz player on flute is up for debate, but he is certainly one of the very best.  Beautiful player and beautiful rendition of Duke's composition.  I don't know if it was intentional or accidental on your part, but posting that clip on the heels of a discussion about Duke and classical music was great; what in music is called a great "segue".  

Duke was a student of the great classical composers and while I have no way of knowing whether that composition was inspired by this other one or not, I have no doubt that Lew Tabackin, a devoted classical flute student, had this other piece in mind when he chose to play Duke's composition on flute instead of saxophone (his other instrument).  Claude Debussy's "Syrinx" for solo flute is, to classical flute players, like "Night In Tunisia" is to beboppers; a staple of the repertory.  Obviously two different styles of music, but I think that the similarities in the two melodies are striking.  I am posting "Pyramid" again for the sake of comparison:

"Syrinx"
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=aw53VrbI4l0
"Pyramid"
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rTp9mjI04kM

Why do so many of these 'new Jazz' groups feature guitar players so prominently?

Inquiring minds want to know.

Cheers