An interesting if slightly peculiar letter in today's laments Radio3's jazz coverage. I was particularly struck by the last couple of paragraphs, which suggest that maybe it was written in the 1950s and has been lost in the post for a few decades...
When Maynard Ferguson died I was one of what must have been hundreds of radio presenters who paid tribute to his remarkable abilities and considerable achievements. His approach to band-lelding had been consistently adventurous and his playing routinely displayed a range, power and endurance that were truly awe-inspiring. For a middle register hornman like me - whose range peters out after high C - the effect of his beligerantly intimidating displays was almost emasculating but, fortunately, I was always rescued by the small voice reminding me that size isn't everything.
Duke Ellington valued Cat Anderson for his blazing section work and for the occasional stratespheric feature but that's not to say that he treasured him more than the likes of Shorty Baker or Ray Nance. Chet Baker was a man who played in a whisper and usually stayed within the compass of a couple of octaves but a glance at the CD racks suggests that his music still gets through to an audience of millions. "Kind Of Blue" doesn't boast any thrillingly transgressive trips beyond the trumpet's accepted upper limit but SO WHAT?
My point, of course, is that athleticism and creativity are not the same thing. You could certainly argue that Maynard was blessed with both and there, I think, I'll hand the discussion over to you.
As is probably common knowledge by now, the MOBOs dropped their jazz category this year and there's been a as a result. Having a look at the suggests that the MOBO idea of jazz was quite an unfocused one (Norah Jones? Jamie Cullum? Incognito?) - a bit like the Mercury Prize having a token jazz album in the lineup every year while some pasty boys with guitars walk off with the honours. Certainly the decision to drop the category seems to have generated way more column inches for the music than would have happened had picked up the award. The fact that a music PR company seems to have orchestrated the protest suggests this was less a grass roots protest than one might think. But that's not the point - when was the last time you saw a jazz related story in the ?
Digital One, the company which runs the national commercial DAB digital radio network, says it's planning to launch a jazz station by the end of 2006.
The company's website reveals that the station will be run by GCap Media as a sister service to Classic FM, promising "a broad range of music styles" from across the jazz spectrum "including Bebop, Swing, Cool jazz, Trad, Blues, Soul jazz, Modern jazz and Smooth/Fusion."
Die-hard jazz fans who've lamented the demise of Jazz FM - or never liked it in the first place - may not be entirely reassured by the comments of Darren Henley, Station Manager for Classic FM, who says: “We want to do for jazz what we’ve done for classical music at Classic FM. The service will be programmed in a similar style to Classic, treating jazz with the respect it deserves while making it accessible to people who enjoy Jazz but may never have been able to listen to specialist Jazz programmes before.”
The company says the initiative follows feedback from listeners and market research showing a strong demand for such a format - it also follows the launch of a petition by the UK jazz community calling for more airtime on national radio. More details at .
Personally, I'm keen to hear such a station - as I said in a recent letter to Jazzwise magazine, the problem isn't the lack of public demand for a jazz station but the apparently reluctance of anyone to provide one.
Strange but true Part 1: Way back in 1996, the 大象传媒 trialled a jazz station on DAB which shared airtime in eight hour blocks with opera and country music. Well, it helped get me through the nightshifts on the Radio 1 newsdesk...
Strange but true Part 2: Classic FM used to produce jazz programmes at its London studios for broadcast on a sister station in Holland.
A few weeks ago I was down in Bude with the Old Fashioned Love Band for the festival. We did two gigs in two different but equally satisfactory venues. Each room was packed and the audiences were relaxed and attentive. Drinks were drunk, people felt free to pass the odd comment but the gigs were, in effect, concerts.
This is a situation that today's musicians and fans recognise as the norm and so it was a bit of a shock to the system when, last week,the band were playing at a jazz weekend in Lowestoft where the majority of the crowd were out on the dance floor that seperated us from the people who just wanted to sit and listen. Nothing new about this of course, as anyone who remembers the Trad Boom will testify, but it was still a situation to be adjusted to.
Words - whether in clever lyrics or smarty-pants introductions - tended to get lost. Subtlety was trodden underfoot. What's more there was precious little eye contact between band and audience but there WAS that half forgotten kick that comes with providing the beat that gets to the feet.
Speaking as a boringlly middle of the road guy I now think that there's room for both kinds of audience but - what do you think?
According to Branford Marsalis in an ...“Jazz is in trouble. But the reason it’s in trouble is not because the music’s dying, but because the people who are playing don’t have a lot of talent. We have great players in terms of playing their instruments, but in terms of some kind of understanding of jazz, we don’t have a lot of talent right now.” and..."We need to be more like poets and less like pop stars."
Some might see this as somewhat ironic coming from someone who's spent their time hanging out with Sting and The Grateful Dead, leading their own dodgy rap groups or being the MD for Saturday Night Live...
Thanks to jazzperson over on the Radio 3 Jazz Message Board who alerted us to ....a set of nine video clips of the saxophone colussus himself. Up for one week only!
Anyone who felt that this year's Brecon Jazz was less than festive could do worse than pencil in a trip to nearby Pontypool next September.
Although on a much smaller scale than Brecon, thousands enjoyed the sixth annual Jazz in the Park event in this south Wales valleys town over the weekend and didn't let the heavy rain dampen their spirits.
Major stars like Chris Barber, Georgie Fame, Humphrey Lyttelton, Elkie Brooks and Jacqui Dankworth played to sell-out crowds with support from around thirty other popular UK bands and local heroes from the Welsh jazz scene in the park's three marquees.
Organisers from the Torfaen Jazz Society are already planning ahead for next year's event - check out for details.
More details . As that article states, it's a shame that Dewey was probably better known as 's dad rather than as an artist in his own right.
More on Dewey at .
are carrying an extensive with bassist (now 's father-in law, trivia fans). Haden's well known for his forthright political views on US foreign policy, and has his seminal Liberation Music Orchestra in response to recent events in the Middle East.
Haden's come in for some stick for his views around the blogosphere of late, as has . With the exception of , it would seem that political activism belongs to the . But it wasn't always that way. And it wasn't always so far from home, either.
Nice to see is on tonight's Jazz on 3, together with bass virtuoso (no, not ), Trevor Tomkins and a brass quartet. Dunmall's done this kind of thing before, but sadly chances to see him on stage in this country seem few and far between.
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