TG - Thanks.
Showing 6 responses by raguirre
Marsalis has a long standing reputation as a traditionalist. I find his music to be inspiring, but his views to be stuffy. On the other hand, we're all entitled to our opinions. BTW, I was fairly sure that Burns covering of contemporary jazz would be a little week because of his reliance on Marsalis as a source (that is *definitely* not to say that I thought he did a bad job or that the series wasn't worthwhile). [email protected] |
'Trane - While I share your love of Jazz, I disagree with the statement that Jazz spawned rock. Rock's direct originators (imho, of course) are R&B and Country (and ultimately blues). Jazz influenced early rock, but I don't think you can call it a progenitor anymore than you can call American Folk a progenitor. As far as 1-4-5 being 'proof' of rock's origins, any study of western music will reveal that this progression is MUCH older than Jelly Roll Or Louis. Anyway, just my thoughts. |
It's amazing to me that people are already panning the series without having seen it. I'm sure, as has been mentioned, that it will have some flaws, and I'm sure it will have a 'theme' that many will find disagreeable (what documentary doesn't). I'm also sure that it will be interesting and informative, especially for people with little or no jazz knowledge. |
What makes NPR think that documentaries are not works of art themselves? I would expect any author (and I'd probably elevate Burton to autuer) to lace his work with his own persona. I think the problem many may be having here is in confusing documentary film making with journalism, they are different media. |
All documents of events are framed within some context. Even so-called objective reporting is colored by the viewpoints of the author. This is just common sense and obvious to any one who has heard the difference in the way The New York Times and Wall Street Journal will cover the same events. People shade their observations of the world around them with their experiences. This isn't a bad thing; without experience we would have no ability to assign meaning to the various stimuli around us. A documentary film director has a responsibility to never falsify as that would become the realm of fiction. However, it is the perrogative of the director to report the events in whatever context he wishes. While the social climate of the United States may seem unimportant to you in it's effect on jazz, clearly Burton disagrees (having read their autobiographies I'd say that Mingus and Miles would side with Burton). We should not let this dismay us! Even in the subjective recount we can compile the truth (whatever that means). As an example, I submit Goya's The Fifth of May. This is a single snapshot in a long war. Moreover, it is clear that Goya has abandoned photo realism in favor of a hypereal presentation of the event. His sympathies are evident, even though he is documenting an event. The beauty is, however, that his presentation is more valuable for understanding the war in ways that a photograph could never be. In my life I have found that History books are filled with lies and revisions. Only in art can we begin to look for some underlying truth. That, by the way, is why I love music. |