Being a jazz fan of an older vintage , Oscar,,Joe Pass, Getz,Benson ,Ellington,etc, what a relief to read about Marsalis than the usual depressing political BS.
I suspected that you were hitting pause on politics intentionally. I shared this in the Slow Boring comments this morning and I think it fits with your decision and with what Marsalis was saying about his approach to understanding the political choices of other people
Breath of fresh air Mr Wells. I enjoyed every moment of your conversation, with the possible exception of the commercials😁.
Re the guitar and your making music, it couldn’t have been said better. By now, you may have realized that you may need to have a guitar in every room… Just saying.
mr. marsalis appears to speak in code about musicians, unnamed, who play complicated jazz, subgenre unidentified, for only other musicians, in exactly 2 clubs in nyc, also unnamed.
why this bit of repressed nastiness, just because, in his view, apparently ordinary people don't appreciate this subgenre?
his brother, wynton, the big boss of the lincoln centre jazz orchestra, has steadfastly refused to allow this allegedly complicated music to be played at lincoln centre for decades. maybe this deep distaste runs in the marsalis family? surely not biological though.
I kind of admire your willingness to show up for this incredibly old fight, but I'll tell you a secret: absolutely nobody on earth cares whether some jazz is acceptable to one faction or another. Enjoy what you enjoy. Other people will enjoy what they enjoy. Most people will never hear about any of it.
Borrowing from Paul Krugman‘s blog where he always presents a musical thing at the bottom of his script I think, because of your affinity with music, you could do the same thing Especially when you cover topics that don’t cover’ happy days’ phenomenon.
I remember when I interviewed Leonard Feather from Downbeat Magazine for my Chom Jazz program many years ago when he was in Montreal for the Jazz fest and he unloaded all over Branford Marsalis from a high altitude for having the gall to work with a rock musician like Sting. Kenny Kirkland was the recipient of his bile as well. The truth was that the album that they produced together and the tours they did behind it turned more rockers onto jazz than Feather ever could have imagined. I am out of country or would have rushed to Ottawa to see Branford play tonight. I am a huge admirer of his. Great piece! Bien à vous.
Branford spoke highly of Feather a few times to me, just as a guy who'd been there at the creation of bebop and heard all that music and brought that perspective. Which was a useful corrective for me, because Leonard was never one of my favourite writers. One thing I did once, in a nerdy moment, was to track down what Kenny Kirkland did in that last year or so with Wynton and the beginning of the Sting thing. He was hopping back and forth: gigs with Wynton, gigs with Carla Bley, rehearsals for the Sting album in that ridiculous castle in France, more work with Wynton, Stone Alliance gig, tour with Sting... the sort of stuff working musicians do. I wonder what Wynton, who's become a great friend of Paul Simon, would say about that stuff now, but he's harder to get an interview with.
Being a jazz fan of an older vintage , Oscar,,Joe Pass, Getz,Benson ,Ellington,etc, what a relief to read about Marsalis than the usual depressing political BS.
I suspected that you were hitting pause on politics intentionally. I shared this in the Slow Boring comments this morning and I think it fits with your decision and with what Marsalis was saying about his approach to understanding the political choices of other people
https://www.cbc.ca/radio/ideas/nietzsche-passing-by-healthy-discourse-1.7434781
Not sure I’ll be able to live up to the idea but the seed is planted at least.
The whole Marsalis family is a jewel. Used to attend Montreal Jazz Festival and Wynton was always a sold out event.
Breath of fresh air Mr Wells. I enjoyed every moment of your conversation, with the possible exception of the commercials😁.
Re the guitar and your making music, it couldn’t have been said better. By now, you may have realized that you may need to have a guitar in every room… Just saying.
mr. marsalis appears to speak in code about musicians, unnamed, who play complicated jazz, subgenre unidentified, for only other musicians, in exactly 2 clubs in nyc, also unnamed.
why this bit of repressed nastiness, just because, in his view, apparently ordinary people don't appreciate this subgenre?
his brother, wynton, the big boss of the lincoln centre jazz orchestra, has steadfastly refused to allow this allegedly complicated music to be played at lincoln centre for decades. maybe this deep distaste runs in the marsalis family? surely not biological though.
jr
I kind of admire your willingness to show up for this incredibly old fight, but I'll tell you a secret: absolutely nobody on earth cares whether some jazz is acceptable to one faction or another. Enjoy what you enjoy. Other people will enjoy what they enjoy. Most people will never hear about any of it.
Borrowing from Paul Krugman‘s blog where he always presents a musical thing at the bottom of his script I think, because of your affinity with music, you could do the same thing Especially when you cover topics that don’t cover’ happy days’ phenomenon.
I remember when I interviewed Leonard Feather from Downbeat Magazine for my Chom Jazz program many years ago when he was in Montreal for the Jazz fest and he unloaded all over Branford Marsalis from a high altitude for having the gall to work with a rock musician like Sting. Kenny Kirkland was the recipient of his bile as well. The truth was that the album that they produced together and the tours they did behind it turned more rockers onto jazz than Feather ever could have imagined. I am out of country or would have rushed to Ottawa to see Branford play tonight. I am a huge admirer of his. Great piece! Bien à vous.
Branford spoke highly of Feather a few times to me, just as a guy who'd been there at the creation of bebop and heard all that music and brought that perspective. Which was a useful corrective for me, because Leonard was never one of my favourite writers. One thing I did once, in a nerdy moment, was to track down what Kenny Kirkland did in that last year or so with Wynton and the beginning of the Sting thing. He was hopping back and forth: gigs with Wynton, gigs with Carla Bley, rehearsals for the Sting album in that ridiculous castle in France, more work with Wynton, Stone Alliance gig, tour with Sting... the sort of stuff working musicians do. I wonder what Wynton, who's become a great friend of Paul Simon, would say about that stuff now, but he's harder to get an interview with.