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Feb 25, 2004 I am a guitarist and an avid music collector, and up to 1998, I had very few jazz albums. This all changed when I first heard Wes Montgomery’s “D Minor Blues.” I was transformed overnight into a serious jazz aficionado, mainly collecting the music of jazz guitarists from the late 50s to early 60s. From there I expanded my listening to other solo instruments, and vocal jazz. As a part of my increasing interest, and to stay up on what was new and learn more about the old, I subscribed to a fairly well-known jazz magazine. It was there that I made and confirmed some startling discoveries about the opinions of people in the greater jazz community. There were a lot of arguments over whether or not certain artists work was jazz or not. It was amazing to take in some of the posturing: If a notable jazz artist recorded instrumental versions of pop hits and not approved compositions from The Great American Songbook, it was not pure jazz, it was sellout jazz, and therefore by definition, it was not jazz. (See Wes Montgomery and Grant Green later it their respective careers. Definitely jazz.) If you used anything other than brushed drums for the drum part, it was not jazz. (See Tutu by Miles Davis--I say it is jazz.) If you are a woman and have the misfortune (?) to be beautiful, your work is not jazz, or it is questioned at the very least. (See Diana Krall and Jane Monheit. Krall was savaged for having the audacity to sell promotional materials at her concerts, which earned her the enmity of the ourists, calling her the “Britney Spears of jazz”--at least they admitted she is a jazz artist with that statement. Monheit’s inclusion into this questioning and dismissing is even more amazing when you consider that she was the first runner-up at the 1998 Thelonious Monk Vocal Competition. I say they are both jazz artists.) If you make lots of money from your recordings, and your music is heard on many different radio stations, then your music is too mainstream and not jazz. (the exception that proves the rule is Blue Note artist and Grammy-machine Norah Jones. ) What amazed me the most from the purists was the caterwauling that there was no young Ella Fitzgerald, no up-and-coming Sarah Vaughn to get excited about. The lament that there was no one like Charlie Parker or John Coltrane out there cutting records. The same people voicing these laments have savaged anyone that even mildly sounds like one of the legends of jazz. What I find really ironic is the same legends they pine for were also savaged by purists in their own time. (Can you say Thelonious Monk?) So knowing all this, how do I deal with the question of ‘Is It or Isn’t It Jazz?’ In my mind, jazz is all about creativity--coming up with new interpretations, breaking new ground, exploring new horizons. It should also be interesting and swingin’ --makes you want to tap your foot, whether the song is fast or slow. The chord progression (the order of the chords you hear in the song) should include 6th and 7th chords., and the beat should be based on ninths (for non-musicians, imagine the sound of empty train cars going by--duh-duh-duh, duh-duh- duh, duh-duh-duh, then take out the middle duh) not eighths like most straight pop songs. My much older brother once told me that jazz, for the most part, is music by musicians, for musicians. I didn’t understand this until I studied the guitar many years later, and understood what happens during a bebop solo. This is probably why Louis Armstrong had this answer to the question ‘What is Jazz?’: “Man, if you have to ask, you’ll never know.” I think the artist that epitomizes interesting swingin’ creativity was Miles Davis. He pushed jazz into all-new areas with his releases The Birth of the Cool, Sketches of Spain, In a Silent Way, and Tutu, stirring the pot of controversy each time. If he were around today, he would find some way of melding hip-hop with major 6th chords. So Miles is a good way to learn how to determine ‘Is It or Isn’t It Jazz?’ But I have a much easier way of determining whether or not a tune is jazz. I simply play it for my wife Jackie. If she says “This will put me to sleep,” (Jackie is a big-time headbanger) then I know it is jazz. ------------ About the author: Paul Carter is unique; he thinks that a Grant Green jazz guitar solo, The Federalist Papers, an El Greco painting, the National Football League, and the Catechism of the Catholic Church are all interesting. When not working a home business, he is a graphic artist. Email Paul Carter: paulcarterdesign@earthlink.net Tell a friend about this site! ------------ |
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