Christopher Six
  • Home
  • About
  • Music

Jazz Appreciation Month: Appreciation is a two-way street

4/27/2019

0 Comments

 
Picture

It’s been quite some time since I could fairly say Branford Marsalis stirred up controversy, but he set a number of people in the jazz world a-tizzy a couple of weeks ago when he sat down for an interview with the Sidney Morning Herald

"[I'm often asked] the question, 'Jazz is so unpopular, why do you think that is?' And the answer is simple: the musicians suck."

It was the stuff headlines are made of, and our friends from Down Under did not disappoint.

The quote was nothing out of line for Branford, who has certainly walked his own path. While brother Wynton has developed into an ambassador of the music, Branford has always done his own thing.

But whatever the musician’s goals were in saying it, it was the kind of ham-handed statement that does more harm than good to the genre, and is a real disservice to those out there working hard at trying to make a living.

The shame of it all, is the root of Branford’s argument isn’t far off base. The same article sums up Branford’s criticisms quite well:

Today's jazz musicians are too mathematical and wonkish, he says. Jazz clubs are half empty, only frequented by other musicians who appreciate each other's showmanship. Listeners need music degrees to understand what they're playing. The music has become rigid. Improvisation is mostly over-rehearsed regurgitation.

These are all arguments I can get behind. A lot of what is promoted these days falls snugly into that category. The mainstream recording industry has done little to promote some of the creative, innovative stuff that is out there while muddying its traditional jazz labels with more “pop” oriented music.

Jazz artists that do get promoted lean toward the heavily schooled — highly trained in all the mechanics, but lacking in the practical application of the craft previous generations found on the bandstand. This has allowed them to play to each other in the clubs, displaying all the gymnastics, but nothing in the way of interpretation. Or a tune you could snap your finger to.

In the old days, artists who turned their backs on the audience and played for themselves often found themselves out on their ears. Fellow players would call them out for their self indulgence. Now, as that generation passes on, and audiences drifted away, they are free to be as mathematical, wonky and inaccessible as they wish.

In short, far too much jazz education these days takes place in a classroom and far, far too little on the bandstand.

But while Branford’s initial assessment may have been satisfying for someone disheartened by the direction of the genre, it has the unfortunate effect of not advancing the conversation.

Why?

1. It justifies the belief of the uninitiated that the genre has nothing to offer but “notes”
2. It does a disservice to a great many artists who are producing exciting, creative work
3. It builds walls — in essence saying those offenders are irredeemable gives them carte blanche to keep doing their own thing (You think I suck? ____ you, Branford).
​
​A simple statement like that undoes so much of that ambassadorial work musicians have done to draw people to the music. I’m thinking of people like brother Wynton and his Jazz at Lincoln Center stuff, or Christian McBride through his radio programs. Bridging different worlds of jazz, from different times and walks of life. Showcasing many, many talented people.

I don’t blame Branford for being discouraged about the direction many have gone, but little is served painting with such a broad brush. The answer isn’t to walk away, it is to change the conversation.

I think in particular of a anecdote McBride told on his show about a young player he adjudicated, and I hope I’m not mucking the story up too much. The youngster played a technically amazing solo on the chord structure of a popular ballad. When he was finished, McBride gave him his due in regard to the technicality of the playing, but then asked him if he had ever heard the original? Was he familiar with the lyrics? That player left with something to think about.

There’s hope. Not everyone can be saved, but the answer isn’t to cut bait. Kids in school get plenty of exposure to the music. We need to encourage them to keep playing. That jazz is something learned by doing, not in theory classes. Let’s back off this “America’s classical music” hooey — treating the music like some mix between science and dogma in order to justify someone’s tenure — and get back to what it was all about. Expressing emotion. Having a good time.

I guarantee you, if you make the music fun — if spending money at the club meant hearing enjoyable music, and not some sort of hipsters only clique — jazz would be popular again. Let’s not ostracize an artist as a sellout because they happen to pull off something that sells.

The days when “good music was popular and popular music was good” are in the rear view. Jazz may never be “pop” again, but then, rock may not either. Few would say rock is dead. Nor need jazz be.

April is Jazz Appreciation Month. My suggestion for a good many in the community is think about appreciating the audience, as well. Instead of playing to impress some academic somewhere, play to impress the people. Evangelize.

Without the people, the music fades away,

0 Comments

Why I write

4/18/2019

0 Comments

 
Picture
Anyone who knows me knows one of my favorite films is “The Paper,” Ron Howard’s 1990s ode to New York tabloid journalism. Many a time when I have been sidelined out of a newsroom, it keeps me going. He captured the energy of “the good old days.”

One of my favorite parts is a tirade by editor-in-chief Bernie White (Robert Duvall):

“I hate columnists! Why do I have all these columnists? I got political columnists, guest columnists... celebrity columnists - The only thing I don't have is a dead columnist. That's the kind I could really use... We reek of opinions. What every columnist at this paper needs to do is to shut the f*** up.”

Today’s journalism landscape is treacherous. Just today, I read Reporters Without Borders dropped us to “problematic” status in their press freedom index, and just last year, we stood in horror as a gunman struck down our colleagues at the Capital Gazette. Economic difficulties have shut the doors on papers nationwide, hedge funds strangle resources at remaining properties and journalists increasingly come under fire for bias.

Missteps and opinion masquerading as analysis have muddied the lines between news and op-ed. Add in failures in information architecture to clearly delineate between commentary and news, and a public increasingly lacking background in how to read a newspaper, it wouldn’t be out of line to think folks have had enough opinion.

On the other hand, opinion is more popular than ever, and in my mind, there’s a very good reason for it: It’s personal. Not only that, it’s necessary.

As a kid, my local paper carried Mike Royko’s syndicated column. I fell in love. Reading Royko, even though I lived nowhere near Chicago, was a joy. He had wit, but he also had the ability to break down news, politics and culture in a way that made it personal to me. He made me care. I was too young at the time, but now, I think of Royko as the guy sitting next to me at the bar.

Naturally, I gravitated to Jimmy Breslin, Pete Hamill, and so many others around the country. (And I highly recommend HBO’s “Deadline Artists” documentary about Breslin and Hamill. If you haven’t watched, you are missing out). These were the folks who had their fingers on the pulse of their communities. These were the writers I strove to be in league with.

I wrote my first column in the early 1990s as a sportswriter at a small daily in southeastern Pennsylvania. It came to me naturally. To steal a little from David Brinkley, I felt everyone was entitled to my opinion. Though I am no longer affiliated with a newspaper, I continue to write editorials and columns to this day, when and wherever I can (BTW, interested? Let’s talk!). I’ve never won an award for my writing, but I’ve learned something through the years that is far more valuable, both through my own work and that of my colleagues. 

The people who approach us through the years— in person, with letters, web comments, phone calls — that’s the reward. That conversation. We reached. We’ve made the reader think. Not just about the things they didn’t know, but the things they already thought they knew and believed.

As this dangerous trend of news deserts has taken root, I have increasingly become an advocate for community journalism, both in my work and my writing. We’ve all read the terrifying numbers of journalists out of work, newspapers disappearing, lack of civic engagement and rising costs of government where there are no watchdogs. That’s why I continue to write. That’s why we all must continue to write.

The columnist is the model community journalist. What made Royko, Breslin and Hamill great, even in large cities, is that they were the community. What makes the columnists in my life effective is they are the community. 

I’ve been blessed to know so many columnists in 30 years —personally and electronically. They write sports, politics, culture, personal memories, local government, good news, family news and humor. There’s even a grammar guy (boy, I hope he doesn’t read this!). They make us laugh, cry or angry. They commiserate with us, they let us know we aren’t alone. They support us. A reporter, for all the good work they do, is a faceless byline on high, but a columnist is personal. They listen. They are approachable. They invest. They take a stand.

There is a reason today is Columnists’ Day. It is the day Ernie Pyle, the great WWII columnist, was killed by a sniper in the Battle of Okinawa in 1945. It is tragic he died so near the end of the war, as if covering the war was the reason he was here. Many reported the war, but Pyle wrote about the people. He made the war tangible for the people back home. He put faces on it. 

That’s why we need opinion writers. That’s why we need columnists. That’s why I write. 
0 Comments
    Picture

      Interested in adding my column to your newspaper, website or publication? Drop me a line to discuss rates.

    Submit

    Archives

    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    September 2017
    August 2017
    March 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

    blog
    blog
    News Blog Directory
    Best Personal Blogs About Life - OnToplist.com
    RSS Search
    Blogging Fusion Blog Directory
    Blogs Directory
    Scoop.it
Proudly powered by Weebly