Published 10:00 pm, Tuesday, November 5, 2013
Asking jazz musicians to talk about their music can be a tricky business. There is a huge difference between creating great music and explaining how it's done. It is not every musician who is articulate enough to do the job, but when you get one that can, you've got a precious gold nugget.
Being Here collects a series of 25 interviews with some of the most articulate jazz artists working today. Voices enough that not only know what they're doing, but can explain it with passion, voices enough that she's got herself a whole gold mine. Whether it's Butch Morris explaining "conduction" or Steve Coleman talking about "natural systems," whether Robert Glasperdescribing the need for music to be "singable," or Kenny Wollesen talking about styles of music "melting into one thing," these are serious artists with a vision. They have given a lot of thought to what they do; they are comfortable expressing themselves, and they do so with an expressive panache that is as remarkable as their music.
More often than not, Philip begins her interview with a question about the musician's intent. And while there may be an argument to be made that an artist's intent is not always a valid measure of what was achieved, it is a significant indication of what they think they were trying to do, of what they think music ought to do. It is interesting to note how often they resort to metaphor and the language of poetry to describe their aims and the creative process in general.William Parker tells us that "playing music is like doing heart surgery." Billy Hart talks about the spiritual nature of performance, the need for music "to uplift the community." Dafnis Prieto tells his music students they have to communicate and even when no one is there, God is listening. These are artists who think of themselves as something more than entertainers.
There are a number of themes which seem to come up again and again in the interviews. Many of them are concerned with what they perceive as the dwindling audience for jazz and the difficulty musicians have supporting their music. They are unhappy with the failure of the larger record labels to work with new talent. Some refuse to be labeled jazz musicians because of its financial implications. Indeed they are often unwilling to define jazz as a unique genre: jazz is music. They don't play jazz; they play music.
Read more: http://www.seattlepi.com/lifestyle/blogcritics/article/Book-Review-Being-Here-Conversations-on-4960818.php
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