on 6/28/02 9:22 AM, Robert Pleshar at rpleshar@midway.uchicago.edu wrote:
This sort of thing always makes me wonder and think about the following things, not that I really have any answers or anything...
Is any musician / composer ever creatively relevant (or whatever we want to call it) for their whole career? (Excepting those who quit or die young)
Some would say Miles Davis, but I'm not sure I would. The Cyndi Lauper cover was a bad choice (espec since he was trying out some better tunes, like "Deja Vu" and "She's Out Of My Life"). Plus, Sting is always a bad sign. Look at his impact on Ivan Lins, Joe Henderson, Zappa... I think, tho, Glenn Gould was relevant his whole career, as was Leonard bernstein, John Hartford, Merle haggard, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Cannonball Adderley, Sun Ra, Public Enemy, and a scant few others. The numbers aren't all that encouraging, tho.
Why do some people (not Patrice, obviously) think that an artist continuing to produce art somehow changes (or tarnishes even?) their previous work? Neil Young made a bunch of very different albums in the 80s, many of which didn't work so well, but that doesn't make 'Everyone Knows This is Nowhere' any less good.
Good example from both perspectives. Look at HARVEST MOON. I think that definitely induced a re-examination of HARVEST as to what the artist thought it was. I don't know if it changes the fact that something is good, but it may make you think at just what did it succeed.
Should we expect Brotzmann, Parker, et al to do anything different really? Why? It's true that when they started they were breaking new ground and that "free-jazz" is as solidified of a genre as hard-bop or trad or whatever, but so what? Dizzy Gillespie did his thing his whole life, why should it be different for Evan Parker or Mick Jagger?
Dizzy wasn't separating himself from the mainstream, so he was spared that sort of judgement. What you say and how you present yourself has a lot to do with how people view your work.
Can't we just say Brotzmann is a great free-jazz stylist and his style is popular?
If he would allow people to leave it at that, yes. But look at all the shit people are saying about Bailey playing standards. The avant-garde community is full of people analyzing things past where just about any other community would take it, no? You think Brotzman is going to do anything without an in-depth explanation? skip h NP: Bob Dylan, BRINGING IT ALL BACK HOME