Jazz for aficionados

Today's Listen:

Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers -- ALBUM OF THE YEAR

Two tunes written by the OP's favorite Jazz players.  Parker and Timmons.

Such a beautiful cover art photo.   Why are my copies always different, and look like crap.   Well at least on my CD it says "Featuring Wynton Marsalis" :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opfLwlbT4lo   

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhTRorrBC-I  

Cheers

Great example of why many have said that young Wynton, and to quote Miles, "ain’t saying shit". To be fair, the same can be said of all the horn players on these cuts. Also to be fair, and to give some credit where credit is due, 1981 was a time when many wondered where jazz was headed and whether it was dead, and a lot of the young lions’ brand of "retro" jazz was welcomed by the jazz traditionalists as a sign that there was still hope. The problem was that the real hope was in the new directions that jazz was taking. Blakey’s band was always a training ground for young players and here it sounds just like that; a training ground. Beautiful and impressive trumpet playing with lots of fireworks by Wynton, but where’s the jazz? Where’s the story? Don’t want to just blindly bash, but I don’t hear it. I will say that his jazz playing has grown more convincing over the years, but still not on the level of his many other talents. I have always felt Bobby Watson was a very overrated player. "Album of the year"? Really? Compared to this from the same year?::

https://youtu.be/zJplKSrRbxQ

Quotes on Wynton Marsalis are the most misunderstood in the world because they always come out as Wynton can't blow the trumpet. No one, not even Miles ever said that; what they said was; when you give Wynton a blank sheet of paper, he can't put some jazz on it, but he can blow the notes off any piece of paper with some jazz already on it; that's a big difference.  While they never used those exact words, that's what they meant.

The music on "Nigerian Market Place" has such a different mood than Blakey's, it's almost like comparing apples and oranges. This music is so "subjective", that I don't think any one person can make such a "definitive" statement; after all, jazz is not a one size fits all.


Enjoy the music.

O-10, I don’t believe that’s the case at all, that quotes about Wynton are misunderstood. It’s very clear to anyone who is a at least a moderately astute jazz listener understands what Miles meant. That, as I said, and you reiterated, Wynton is a great trumpet player, but simply not a great jazz player; especially as a young man. Anyone who can’t appreciate what a great trumpet player Wynton is has no business commenting on music, imo. Wynton’s cred as a trumpet player was not questioned. Remember, a big reason for why he made such a big splash initially was because of the Classical music recordings made in conjunction with the jazz recordings. Pretty impressive by any measure. He has grown a lot as a player since that record was recorded and I think it’s important to be fair and reasonable about a person who is so important in the jazz world. Miles’ quote goes to the core of what is jazz: you’ve got to be saying something in your solo. To my ear he does this best with the Louis Armstrong and Ellington style material.

You are correct about the different moods re Blakey/Peterson, but I don’t see what subjectivity has to do with anything. Mood doesn’t factor in when a "best of", "album of the year", Grammy, etc. is awarded. The criteria used are more general or objective than that. Let’s put it this way: you go to the fruit shop and you see a mealy overripe apple and a perfect juicy and firm orange. Is it not fair to say that the orange is a better piece of fruit?

In regard to Wynton we are saying the same thing in between the lines.


In regard to jazz, "subjectivity" is always a factor.


Gene Harris grew into a national treasure, and nobody told me;


    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfNIVdnz1FQ


    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odkIpuRKkko



Enjoy the music.