{"id":318,"date":"2013-09-26T01:07:16","date_gmt":"2013-09-26T01:07:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.westlakerecords.com\/blog\/?p=318"},"modified":"2013-10-01T08:03:13","modified_gmt":"2013-10-01T08:03:13","slug":"branford-marsalis-speaks-i-agree","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.westlakerecords.com\/blog\/2013\/09\/26\/branford-marsalis-speaks-i-agree\/","title":{"rendered":"Branford Marsalis Speaks, I Agree"},"content":{"rendered":"

JON-ERIK KELLSO is a very good jazz trumpet player in New York. A couple of days ago he posted excerpts from a Seattle Weekly<\/em> interview with Branford Marsalis. Branford had noticed the music in old records \u201calways sounds better\u201d than that in new ones because, as with classical music, it has strong melodic content.<\/p>\n

Branford may have overlooked some relatively recent albums but his overall opinion is accurate. Melody, today, is out of style; virtually all contemporary music is about rhythm, technique, \u201cintellectual\u201d content, and (unbelievably) the performer\u2019s appearance. In that sweeping indictment I include the popular genres, jazz, and even orchestral music.<\/p>\n

But how can that be? As my former clarinet teacher, John Neufeld, once explained, \u201cThere is no more music business. A few people still may earn a living with music but, as an industry, it is gone.\u201d What do we have instead? An entertainment business, something very different from the music business.<\/p>\n

Back to Marsalis: He says jazz aficionados spend a lot of time talking about harmony, as though they are members of \u201ca private club with a secret handshake\u201d. He considers that a mistake. He goes on to say critics might claim a jazz album to be \u201cthe most important music since such and such.\u201d But then he asks how we can really apply the word \u201cimportant\u201d to something most people have never heard.<\/p>\n

Let me go a step further and say such critics and aficionados are fools and nincompoops. That group also includes many music educators.<\/p>\n

By now some if not all of you must think I\u2019m a real jerk for daring to state such an outrageous opinion. Who the hell am I to write such a thing? We all know aficionados and critics are experts, right? How could they possibly be wrong? After all, nobody should appreciate or accept anything unless a \u201cbig name\u201d expert validates it, should he? Well, if you really believe that then maybe critics and aficionados are not the only fools and nincompoops.<\/p>\n

Marsalis then points out how \u201cnormal\u201d people always react to music\u2019s emotional content. He warns musicians, \u201cIf the value of the [tune] is based on intense analysis of music, you\u2019re doomed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s see, Louis Armstrong, Sidney Bechet, Jack Teagarden, Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, and most other Swing era jazz musicians appealed to emotion rather than intense music analysis and they were very popular. Then along came Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and the bebop guys (all remarkable musicians, by the way); then such later prodigies and technical whizzes as John Coltrane. Their music invites intense analysis but, as clever, intellectual, technical, and perfect as it might be, often de-emphasizes melody.<\/p>\n

So what happened? Jazz quickly lost popularity until it all but disappeared. Today, melody and (dare I use the word?) beauty in jazz are out of style.<\/p>\n

Why do you suppose that is? Let\u2019s go back to the fools and nincompoops comprising the majority of the jazz writers, critics, and educators. Branford Marsalis summarizes their thinking much more succinctly and poignantly than I ever have: \u201cEverything you read about jazz is: \u2018Is it new? Is it innovative?\u2019 I mean, man, there\u2019s 12 fucking notes. What\u2019s going to be new?\u201d<\/p>\n

But when nincompoops lead, fools follow. The \u201cjazz world\u201d bought into that nonsense decades ago and still sits around saying, \u201cThat guy must be good. Did ya catch that run of sixty-fourth notes? How about the way he played a sharp nine in measure thirteen? Genius, man!\u201d Meanwhile the rest of us were bored to tears and took refuge in something more pleasant and emotionally satisfying.<\/p>\n

Branford goes on, \u201cSo much of jazz \u2014 it doesn\u2019t even have an audience other than the music students or the jazz musicians themselves and they\u2019re completely in love with virtuosic aspects of the music, so everything is about how fast a guy plays. It\u2019s not about the musical content [or] whether the music is emotionally moving or has passion.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wait a minute. Didn\u2019t I just write that?<\/p>\n

But the emphasis on virtuosity has a reason: Fools and nincompoops are unable to judge music as art but easily may quantify it. It\u2019s like sports. The fastest guy to the finish line is the best and nothing else counts. Of course, music isn\u2019t a sport but fools and nincompoops somehow overlook the distinction. Incidentally, it also isn\u2019t a math problem.<\/p>\n

Okay, great. Branford Marsalis and I agree. Music should appeal to emotion rather than intellect and, although it\u2019s in the ear of the beholder, I suspect he would include the concept of beauty in music\u2019s appeal. The irony, however, is that American culture (and that of much of the rest of the \u201ccivilized\u201d world) has degenerated to such an extent that maybe none of that matters. For most of us, music is something in the background to banish silence and all popular music is vocal.<\/p>\n

Branford concludes, \u201c\u2026If [music has] emotional meaning, [it] will translate to a larger audience [with] the capacity to appreciate instrumental music … \u2019cause a lot of people don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

Actually, most<\/em> people now lack the capacity to appreciate instrumental music. And that is why the business of music is gone, why the melodic and popular jazz we once knew is dead, and why fools and nincompoops celebrate whatever it is they celebrate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

JON-ERIK KELLSO is a very good jazz trumpet player in New York. A couple of days ago he posted excerpts from a Seattle Weekly interview with Branford Marsalis. Branford had noticed the music in old records \u201calways sounds better\u201d than…<\/p>\n

Continue ReadingBranford Marsalis Speaks, I Agree<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.westlakerecords.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/318"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.westlakerecords.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.westlakerecords.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.westlakerecords.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.westlakerecords.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=318"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.westlakerecords.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/318\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":321,"href":"http:\/\/www.westlakerecords.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/318\/revisions\/321"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.westlakerecords.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=318"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.westlakerecords.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=318"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.westlakerecords.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=318"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}