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Saturday August 9, 2003
(In response to the question, "Is Swing Jazz?")
I see no reason to place a reductionist meaning to the
word "jazz".
The people who played all of this music and listened to it referred to it
as jazz. What's the point in revising history here and now? Jazz is a form
of popular music -- it always has been. Jazz is, at it's roots, dance
music. It is both commercial and artistic. Let's not try to try to turn it
into some exclusive country club.
In the mood is a jazz tune. Ellington played swing music, some of it a
little more commercial than other. Same with Miller. Anybody ever try
playing Pagan Love Song? Lead bone part's as hard as Lawrence's part in
Rockin' in Rhythm.
Duke and Glenn both got letters from the DOD, Duke recorded "A Slip
of the Lip (Might Sink a Ship)" and Glenn cut "Shhh, It's a
Military Secret".
In any case I knew Steve Wiest would never say that swing is not jazz
because whomever said that is ignorant and Stevie Wiest is a brilliant guy
and a killing player.
Let's review:
- Blues is a Jazz form and style - while it is a part of and can be called
"jazz" it also has it's own strong heritage and lineage and can
stand by itself as a credible art form.
- Big Band is a jazz ensemble, just as a combo is. If you don't dig
playing in jazz bands then we don't want you anyways so go away. Some of
us try very hard, every night, to realize that In the Mood can be fun to
play as long as you put as much energy into it as you can. People too cool
to play ITM suck all of that energy right off the bandstand. Go play your
cool music - there's professionals here trying to work.
- Swing is Jazz. Miller is jazz. Harry James was jazz. Joe Garland,
Lunceford and Ellington and the Casa Loma Orch were all jazz. And all of
that music comprised practically the entirety of jazz during a period when
jazz was listened to by a higher percentage of the listening public than
ever before or since.
- Relegating the classification of swing music from jazz to some sort of
bastardized never-never land is revisionist history that nobody here is
qualified to inflict upon the standards of meaning, just as I am not
qualified to pronounce Bitches Brew or It's After the End of the World as
not jazz.
OK now that I've cleared all of this up you people can continue talking
now.
©2003, Joe Jackson. All rights reserved.