Odd Spin 3/31: The Gene Norman Group’s Dylan Jazz

Title: Dylan Jazz
Flute & saxophones: Jim Horn
Guitar: Glenn Campbell
Piano: Al Delory
Bass: Lyle Ritz
Drums: Hal Blaine
Label: GNP Crescendo

The set-up: Gene Norman, proprietor of GNP put together a group to perform jazz arrangements of Dylan songs. Their renditions are range from competent to pleasant, but the group includes some notable names. Yes, that is the Glenn Campbell. Jim Horn would become well known for his studio work and some halfway-smooth jazz recordings. Blaine and Delory were first call musicians for Spector’s Wall of Sound. Lyle Ritz on bass, would later become known as the leading jazz ukulele player. Yes ukulele.

Jazz versions of folk material were not as uncommon as one might think. For instance, there also was Bud Shank’s Folk & Flute. Probably the best jazz Dylan cover was Lou Donaldson’s take on “Blowin’ in the Wind,” from the non-theme album of the same name.

Dylan’s contact with the jazz scene has been limited, but he did have a controversial booking with jazz impresario George Wein. Renown for producing the Newport Jazz Festival, during the 1960’s Wein also produced a Newport Folk Festival for several years. Dylan had just gone electric, and the combination of his new rock sound, and poor amplification system nearly sunk the festival. At Wein’s urging Dylan did toss off a few acoustic tunes to forestall rioting, but the party was over. As Wein wrote in his autobiography Myself Among Others: “Several other artists followed Dylan, but the night had been derailed. Everyone was exhausted. (p. 334)” As a jazz man himself, Wein understood asking him to play the old Dylan was like asking Miles or Trane to revive their past sound rather than playing their current explorations. However the near riot of Dylan’s night at the Folk Fest would take a toll on Festival Productions.

The bottom line: I just paid $10 for my copy, so I don’t want to hear of anyone finding a clean copy for less.

Sounds Like Freedom

The Korea Times reports on the defection of pianist Kim Chul-woong from North to South Korea for the desire to play jazz. It seems from accounts North Korea condemns any music that doesn’t properly lionize Kim Jong-il and Kim Il-sung as “jazz.” Those involved in the jazz scene can wear such condemnation with pride, but it was actually the music of the not particularly jazzy Richard Clayderman that first opened Kim Chul-woong’s ears to less didactic forms of music.

There is in fact a history of musicians defecting to play the music they love. In Tokyo on August 15, 1964, Russian musicians Boris Midney and Igor Berukshtis made a desperate break from their Soviet vaudeville group, for the American embassy. Their motivation: jazz. Six months later they formed the Russian Jazz Quartet with African-American Grady Tate on drums, and British-born Roger Kellaway on piano. Their lingua franca: jazz. The group was short-lived, but they released an excellent (and unfairly neglected) album Happiness on Impulse Records. Midney would later make his fortune as a key producer-guru of the disco era, in a most American act of self-reinvention.

Now that Kim is free to perform what he wishes, who can say where his experiments might take him. His arrival, and the reported success of Yoduk Story suggests a reinvigoration of the South Korean music scene.

IAJE Rallies the Troops

PBS is set to air a weekly series devoted to jazz: Legends of Jazz with Ramsey Lewis. However, as IAJE informs its members in an e-mail blast, WNET 13 the local New York PBS affiliate, is scheduled to air it at 12:30 am on Thursdays. I can still catch it then, but it effectively excludes any younger audience unless parents make an effort to Tivo or tape it for later viewing.

They have even sent members a form letter:


Thirteen/WNET
Attn: Carmen DiRienzo, Vice President and Managing Director
450 West 33rd Street
New York, NY 10001

Dear Carmen DiRienzo,

I want to see LEGENDS OF JAZZ on TV!

I am delighted to hear that jazz is returning to television in the new series, “Legends of Jazz with Ramsey Lewis” (see cover story in April issue of Down Beat magazine). And PBS is the perfect station for it. I’m eager to watch the program and to encourage many friends who are jazz fans to tune in to this weekly program. But, I am very discouraged to learn that you will be airing the series in a fringe time slot when I will not be able to watch it. Truth be told, I don’t know anyone watching TV on at 12:30am on a Thursday.


It continues by referencing the success of the Ken Burns documentary, arguing for primetime placement. Of course I’m sympathetic to the cause. Finally PBS is producing programming of significant cultural importance. Lately, PBS broadcasts seem to either be Bill Moyers-style left wing propaganda or Suze Orman/Wayne Dyer infomercials. Even if you believe in the mission of PBS, its difficult to advocate funding for this kind of programming. Its time to hold PBS’s feet to the fire. Either they support cultural and artistic programming, or they should lose Uncle Sam as their sugar daddy.

Honoring Sec. Weinberger

Sec. Caspar Weinberger will always be remembered for his service as Pres. Reagan’s Defense Secretary at a critical time in our history. Reagan decided to stand on principle, and fight the spread of evil in the form of Communist totalitarianism. Weinberger was one of his most important lieutenants in the American victory over Soviet expansionism. In that role, Weinberger often made the intellectual case for western democracy, and managed the administrative details of freedom’s democracy with equal skill.

I never met the Secretary, but I thought I was going to. My company is publishing his book Home of the Brave: Honoring the Unsung Heroes in the War on Terror, written in collaboration with Wynton C. Hall. I actually read an earlier manuscript version of these gripping accounts of heroism from Iraq and Afghanistan, and recommend the book highly, despite my obvious conflict of interest.

Sec. Weinberger took a vital role in defense and foreign policy debates through his final days, as Home of the Brave proves. While it is sad when a great American dies, it is often an opportunity to teach younger generations about their accomplishments. It was so with Pres. Reagan’s passing, and hopefully it will be the case with his Defense Secretary as well.

Real Lincoln Center Ambassadors

When Dave Brubeck wrote the musical The Real Ambassadors for Louis Armstrong, many jazz musicians, like Satchmo, were touring non-aligned countries on behalf of the U.S. State Department. Ambassadors asked who was the real ambassador, the cautious State Dept. bureaucrat or the swinging jazz musican?

Jazz proved a particularly potent weapon for cultural outreach during the Cold War, producing many high-profile successes, including jam sessions with Benny Goodman and the King of Thailand. According to Jazz Week (3/27/06) State will soon promote a similar tour of South Africa, reporting:

“The U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs will sponsor Jazz at Lincoln Center’s first ever South African cultural exchange program with the Field Band Foundation to produce performances and educational events throughout Johannesburg, Durban, and Cape Town.”

Trombonist Wycliffe Gordon will lead a seven piece group from J@LC during the May tour. I’ve enjoyed Godon’s playing as leader, and as a longtime member of the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, and Wynton Marsalis’s 1990’s Septet. He’ll definitely bring the swing.

Hawk on the Docket

Counselor Lopez pointed me towards an interesting case that came up in his Pace Law class. In the 1950’s British musicians Unions had created an extremely restrictive environment, which prohibited foreign musicians from playing in the UK without a prearranged foreign engagement for British musicians to offset this supposed loss of work for the local talent.

In reality, UK musicians were hit the hardest, because they were effectively denied the opportunity to hear the latest musical developments from America, then the unquestioned leader in new jazz developments. In his book Jazz in Revolution, Johnny Dankworth writes of what a momentous occasion it was to score a gig in Paris, because it gave him an opportunity to finally hear Charlie Parker live. After all, not too many Americans were clamoring to hear the somewhat dated music of the British scene.

In the 1951 case (Wilcox v. Jeffrey, King’s Bench Division, 1 All E.R. 464) Herbert William Wilcox, a jazz magazine editor was actually convicted of attending an “illegal” concert by Coleman Hawkins, and writing a positive review of the show, in a decision that found Wilcox to have aided and abetted a crime. Hawkins was a giant of the swing ere, who was able to make a successful transition into bebop. Hearing Hawk tackle modern jazz would have been an ear-opening opportunity for any British musician or music lover. However, under Britain’s restrictive, unionized environment, it was literally criminal. Hawk was wisely spared prosecution.

This case is instructive of several points. One being protectionism always hurts those it purports to help. French efforts to protect its film and television industry through GATT and WTO negotiations will have a similar effect. Without the exposure to international (and certainly American) developments, French cinema will become further stultified and insular.

It also illustrates that international law should have absolutely no bearing on the decisions of our judiciary. This was a foolish law and an unjust application. Mr. Wilcox was prosecuted because he went to a concert and wrote a review. I should hope such a case would be thrown out of a U.S. court on First Amendment grounds, even had we passed similarly ignorant protectionist measures.

The Box Score

Let’s check the latest box score from Albany’s latest news:

Assemblyman Clarence Norman (D): The assemblyman and Brooklyn Democrat party chair scored a rare legal victory. After two convictions for felony corruption and mishandling campaign donations, Norman was acquitted on charges of grand larceny. He still faces a further trial on charges of selling judgeships. Status: two convictions, one acquittal, one trial pending.

Sen. Ada Smith (D): As seen on Drudge, the Queens State Senator (D) stands accused of physically abusing staff members, including pulling hair and throwing coffee in the face of a former staffer. The Politicker has an amusing piece on the confusion over whether Smith is still in the Democrat leadership or not. The answer seems to be No. Status: investigation pending.

Assemblyman Brian McLaughlin (D): Has had his Queens office and the offices of the New York Central Labor Council, which he runs, searched by the FBI in conjunction with an ongoing corruption investigation. Status: investigation pending.

Sen. David Patterson (D): Facing questions about his dealing with a lobbyist. Remember how evil lobbyists were a few months ago. After accepting a freebie charter flight up to the state of the state speech, he first refunded the cost of a commercial ticket from his own pocket $176. After mounting criticism, he refunded the balance of the full cost of the flight $4500, from his campaign account, although the purpose of the trip on its face was not campaign related. Status: questionable refunds paid.

Michael Boxley: After serving time for sexual assault, the top aide to Assembly Speaker Silver (D) now has his legal license reinstated. Status: time served.

Now ask which party is best qualified to bring real reform to Albany?

Correction: Ada Smith is the alleged abusive senator. Ada Lee was a vocalist who recorded an album for Atco in the late 1960's.

ECM on the trail at Yale

In this case ECM is not the Euro-jazz label, but Evan Coyne Maloney, an independent investigative filmmaker, and my neighbor. I’m sure this will be buzzing around the blogosphere instantly (I was hipped to it by Instapundit), but I wanted to slap up a link myself.

Maloney has been documenting the heavy-handed indoctrination and regulation of thought which regularly occurs on college campuses. Evidently Yale administrators didn’t roll out the red carpet for him, but I’m glad to see he’s on the trail of the story.

Odd Spin 3/24: James Bond’s James Bond Songbook

Title: The James Bond Songbook
Bass, leader: Jimmy Bond
Tenor: Harold Land
Trumpet: Bobby Bryant
Flute, tenor: Buddy Collette
Drums: John Guerin
Piano: Joe Parnello
Arranger: Dick Grove
Label: Mirwood

The story: James Bond, usually billed as Jimmy, was a reliably talented bass player, but the record label probably only cared about his name for this outing of songs from and inspired by Bond movies. At the time of recording many Bond novels had yet to be filmed, so Bond co-wrote tunes with Warren Baker for those titles. Technically, Jimmy Bond wrote the first "Live and Let Die" for this LP several years before the film and McCartney song.

I’ve taught a class on jazz and film at SCPS, so it’s a topic of great interest for me. Few art forms have done more to shape our perception of “cool” than jazz and film. Yet jazz, with its emphasis on improvisation and virtuoso solos, has never been a natural partner for film production. Still, jazz has had enough hip status to periodically find a place in film.

Jazz biographies like Clint Eastwood’s Bird and Michael Curtiz’s Young Man with a Horn (largely inspired by the life of Bix Biederbecke) are suffused with the music that inspires them. Film noir classics like Odds Against Tomorrow rely on the moody, sultry, and dangerous emotions jazz conjures to provide the audience visceral cues to the films action. Blaxploitation soundtracks have employed funkier soul-jazz artists to convey the musical landscape of their urban environments. Perhaps the greatest integration of jazz and film occurred during the French New Wave. Auteur film-makers truly embraced the jazz aesthetic, often featuring wholly improvised soundtracks, like the Miles Davis score for Elevator to the Gallows.

Jazz also has a long history of drawing inspiration and material from films. Few people remember the Lana Turner film Green Dolphin Street, but the Oscar nominated “On Green Dolphin Street” has become a jazz standard, recorded by Miles Davis and legions of other jazz musicians. Songs like “The Shadow of Your Smile” from the Sandpiper, “More” from Mondo Cane, and “Never on Sunday” from the film of the same name, were widely adopted into jazz repertoires in the 1960’s.

While jazz and film may have both shaped perceptions of American “coolness,” they were never equal partners. Jazz could claim a certain hip status for the elite vanguard, but Hollywood derived its status from its glamour and widespread popularity.

The pay-off: Despite the gimmicky genesis, this is nice little hard-bop session. Dig the line-up, an appearance from Harold Land is always welcome. I haven’t seen this too often, but not too many people are hip to it. Hope to snap it up for $15, but go up to $20-25.

It Shines For All

New York City is blessed to have two daily newspapers with center-right editorial pages, giving the city some much needed diversity of opinion. The NY Post is well established, and beloved by many for its take-no-prisoners style headlines. The new kid on the block is the NY Sun.

Its start-up years have been difficult, but one hopes they can hang tough. The Sun has already demonstrated a commitment to investigative journalist, breaking some of the early stories in the Air America/Gloria Wise financial scandal. Although the Sun’s website is largely subscriber only, as a public service they collected those Air Enron stories here. The Sun has also given considerable critical attention to jazz in its arts pages. Now Jazz Week (3/20 issue, subscription also req’d) reports the Sun will be the media sponsor for Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Jazz Appreciation Month events. The NY Sun is a welcome addition to the NY cultural and journalistic scene. Let’s hope the Sun indeed continues to shine for the City.

Java & Jazz

The Jakarta International Java Jazz Festival wrapped up March 5, and from on-line accounts, it was a great success and source of pride for Indonesians. Had I been able to jet down for it, I probably would have been more interested in the local musicians playing. Most of the international artists looked to be more smooth-jazzy than my tastes run, but I’d have tried to catch Hiromi, Bob James, and Tony Monaco.

Regardless of the talent line-up, the Java Fest produced good on-line buzz for an Islamic country struggling with its international image. It’s exactly the sort of enterprise we should be supporting through the State Dept. and USIA. Jazz was among the most effective cultural programming produced by those agencies during the Cold War. It’s an art form that speaks directly about personal liberty and free expression. For too many in Islamic countries, the only American culture they are familiar with are the soft-core porn films that play to packed houses in the Mid-East.

In truth, jazz has proven quite compatible with Eastern forms of music. Coltrane’s late groups often featured two bassists to attain a droning effect. Jazzmen like Bud Shank and Paul Horn regularly improvised with Ravi Shankar. There’s no reason to think the average person in the Middle-Eastern street can’t relate to jazz. They just need to be exposed to it. Once exposed, jazz seems to have a life-affirming, but subversively democratizing effect, which is exactly what the region needs.

It’s Hypocrisy or It’s a Crime

Friday the Times Union published an interesting story about self-styled reformer congressional candidate Kirsten Gillibrand (D) running in the Lake Placid-Saratoga area. Gillibrand has tried to make hay crusading against the evil influence of lobbyists, but what should arrive in the mail, but an invitation to a Gillibrand fundraiser at the lobbying firm Patton Boggs. As the Times Union reports:

“At the bottom of the invitation read a box: ‘Paid for by Gillibrand for Congress.’

"Gillibrand's campaign manager, Bill Hyers, insisted the event hadn't been officially set up by the campaign, and when he caught wind of it, it was promptly canceled.

‘I have no idea what that is; I don't remember even hearing about it,’ Hyers said. ‘I think friends wanted to set it up, and I didn't see it. There was no way we were going to do it.’ Hyers said anyone could make an invitation with ‘Paid for by Gillibrand for Congress’ printed on it, so it doesn't necessarily prove anything.”

If people were fraudulently representing themselves as part of Gillibrand’s campaign, falsely labeling mail as paid for by the campaign, that’s a crime. Since invitations were sent through the mail, federal mail fraud statutes should apply. Patton Boggs and RSVP contact Kate Boyce should be asked to explain their involvement. If no crime was actually committed, than Gillibrand was hypocritically accepting help from the sinister lobbyists she has been campaigning against.

Still Deserving Wider Recognition

The reviews are in for the Johnny Cash jukebox musical Ring of Fire, and by and large they have not been kind. A common refrain has been to wonder how director Richard Maltby, Jr. could go from producing the first great jukebox musical Ain’t Misbehavin,’ based on the songs of Fats Waller, to such a flat presentation that takes the cool out of Cash. Ain’t Misbehavin’ had one great advantage: Luther Henderson.

Henderson was the arranger, musical director and pianist for the original production of Misbehavin.’ His Broadway experience started in 1946 when he worked on Duke Ellington’s Beggars Holiday. In addition to providing classical orchestrations for Duke, Henderson would work great vocalists like Sarah Vaughan and Nancy Wilson, in addition to leading his own big band dates. He frequently lent his skills to Broadway productions, including Jelly’s Last Jam and Play On! the Ellington recasting of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night.

Throughout his career Henderson labored largely in obscurity, toiling so that others could bask in the limelight. Shortly before his death, the Dana Gioia’s NEA selected him as one of the Jazz Masters of 2004, finally giving him the recognition that was long overdue. Clearly, the Bush Administration is hipper than the NY drama critics.

True Stories

Friday we heard Billy Bang play at Sweet Rhythm. He had a film crew there filming for a future documentary. I’m starting to feel like the Zelig of under-distributed docs. You can catch the back of my head in Running in High Heels, and I was also a Vartan’s when donnie betts was filming Oscar Brown: Music is My Life. Since we were pretty close to the bandstand, you might well be able to catch us if they use the footage.

The first two sets we heard were fantastic, so they should have some great footage. At times Bang nearly saws his violin in two. At other times he plucks pizzicato getting Eastern sounds from his instrument.

Bang played several selections from his Vietnam: Reflections and Vietnam: the Aftermath CDs. Bang served in Vietnam, and the experience informs his music. He became politically radicalized on his return, even getting involved with a Black Power paramilitary group. According to Bang, he and the crew were heading to DC to film at the Vietnam Memorial for a week, and then they would be off for five weeks of filming in Vietnam.

When they examine the aftermath in-country, one would hope they remember the whole legacy. Hundreds of thousands of refugees risked their lives on boats and rafts when the North took over. Countless more were interred in re-education camps. Poverty and hopelessness became the way of life for everyone. War can definitely be hellish, but sometimes peace is Hell on Earth.

Arturo Sandoval’s Fruits of Freedom

“That’s the reason I’m here, because in Cuba we don’t have freedom. That’s the main thing, the most important thing a human being can aspire to have. Freedom.”—Arturo Sandoval interviewed on ’98 JVC Jazz Festival Newport, R.I.

Sandoval was once imprisoned by the Castro regime for listening to Willis Conover’s VOA jazz broadcasts. A protégé of Dizzy Gillespie in the UN Big Band, Sandoval would eventually defect to America. Having enjoyed musical and political freedom, Arturo Sandoval will enjoy the fruits of economic freedom with the opening of his new club in Miami, Florida on April 2, according to a recent announcement.

In Sandoval’s club May 1st will be just another day on the calendar, and I don’t like Janet Reno’s chances of getting a table. The music should be great, since Arturo Sandoval is running the show.

Odd Spin 3/17: Jazz Score From Shotgun Slade

The Original Jazz Score from Shotgun Slade
Stanley Wilson and his Orchestra
Musicians uncredited
Composer, Arranger: Gerald Fried
Label: Mercury

The run-down: The jazz P.I. concept worked for Peter Gunn, why not adapt it as a western? The formula worked quite well for Peter Gunn, starring Craig Stevens as the suave detective, who met his clients at Mother’s jazz club and dated a jazz singer played by Lola Albright. Although the plots were simplistic, of necessity at a twenty-four minute running time, the stylish noir look and legitimate jazz performances are still entertaining. Johnny Staccato starring John Cassavetes was a darker, less successful attempt to duplicate the jazz P.I. concept. Shotgun Slade (syndicated 1959-1960) was an attempt to transport the jazz P.I. to the old west, with Scott Brady playing the Denver-based private detective. Hollywood veterans Gerald Fried and Stanley Wilson (who had collaborated with jazz legend Benny Carter) produced a big band crime-jazz soundtrack, totally at odds with the shows old west setting, but that’s not a bad thing.

While they are occasional twangs thrown in for effect, this is respectable LP (not available on CD) of big band crime jazz. The show was less satisfying. One notable episode did feature vocalist Monica Lewis guest starring as a respectable saloon singer, as you could probably guess. In a departure for the show, she sings a rousing rendition of the “Shotgun Slade Theme” over the end credits, which is not included on this LP.

Jazz and country: two styles seemingly poles apart. Jazz began as the musical expression of African-Americans, primarily in urban centers like New Orleans, Chicago, and New York. Country music was the soundtrack of poor rural whites from Appalachia and the Southwest. Still, one of the earliest cross-genre fusions involved country and big band swing.

Fiddlers Bob Wills and Spade Cooley led so-called Western Swing bands, which augmented western style fiddles and guitars with swing oriented big band brass sections. They played swing based arrangements, and at least in public performance, gave respectable solo space to featured musicians.

Interest in western swing bands waned in the 1950’s, as it did for all big bands in general. Western swing’s fortunes were not helped by the notorious and tragic private lives of its best known leaders. Wills and Cooley both battled alcoholism and severe financial troubles when their careers stalled. Cooley was also engaged in a bitter separation from his wife Ella Mae, a former back-up singer in his band. One night Cooley beat his estranged wife to death in front of their teenaged daughter. Cooley spent the rest of his life in prison.

Wills’s career had its ups-and-downs, but he continued to perform into the early 1970’s. Despite his influence on some future jazzmen, very little cross-fertilization would take place between future jazz and country artists during the waning years of his career. Notable attempts included sessions led by Gary Burton, Chet Atkins, and arguably this album.

The Bottom Line: While somewhat scarce, when it does turn up this LP should go for $10 or less.

NJ Business as Usual

Remember what a terrible threat sleazy lobbyists pose to democracy? It seems the dinosaur media has forgotten. Revelations about Harry Reid’s work on behalf of Abramoff clients just weren’t that much fun to cover, evidently. Now there’s a story across the Hudson that doesn’t seem to be getting much play either, even though it sure seems to have sensational elements.

In what he admits was a mistake, Gov. Corzine (D) loaned lobbyist and former campaign aide Karen Golding $5,000 to post bail on a stalking charge. Golding represents Prudential Financial, which manages a state fund, and is now in an odd financial relationship with the governor. Stalking, financial conflicts of interest. This story seems to have it all. It even has the unusual wrinkle of an elected official sending funny money to the lobbyist, instead of vice versa. Why not more national coverage? Maybe the networks don’t consider corruption in a NJ Democrat administration to be newsworthy. It’s just business as usual.

Not Your Typical Song and Dance

A musical set in a North Korean prison camp? Yoduk Story opening last night, is exactly that, as Reuters reports. Now here is an antidote for all the self-congratulatory political posturing of the Oscars. Sorry Paul Haggis, but making a PC film in a PC town, doesn’t qualify as dissent. However, borrowing money against your kidney to stage a musical critical of a regime thought to be massing troops at the border for a possible future invasion takes real guts.

I would really like to see this imported to the New York stage. After all, the New York Theatre Workshop might still have an opening. Translating musicals is truly challenging, but this seems like a worthy project, and Americans should learn more about both Koreas. Unlike the Palestinian propaganda piece My Name is Rachel Corrie or the next revival of A Chorus Line scheduled for the Fall, this is a show that could really teach the NY theater community something about dissent in the face of tyranny. I don’t know if that’s something they want to learn about, but I’d like an opportunity to see for myself. Besides, I’d like Jung Sung-san to keep his kidney.

A Love Supreme and the Permanent Things

Tonight we’ll be covering John Coltrane's seminal album A Love Supreme in class. Like a true masterpiece, it continues to unfold rich new nuances. It was a deeply earnest expression of spiritual faith, and a pivotal record in Coltrane’s discography. It was in effect, a summing up of all his previous experiments, and signal of his impending defection to the Free Jazz movement.

The record would undeniably inspire many avant-garde artists who would affiliate with the Black Power movement, and even in some cases, explicit Marxism. Yet as an artistic statement I would suggest A Love Supreme is in close kindred with the American conservative movement. A Love Supreme is deeply rooted in religious values. It is part and parcel of Coltrane’s musical quest for God. In many ways, it is also an avant-garde album, with Coltrane’s classic Quartet perfecting many innovative techniques on that session. Ultimately it would lead to the Free Jazz of the late 1960’s and early 1970’s.

The great resolved contradiction of American Conservatism is its embrace of both tradition and innovation. The great resolved tension of American Liberalism is its rejection of both. American Conservatism defends what Russell Kirk calls the Permanent Things—tradition—religion, while embracing commerce and free inquiry. The American Left caters to a Luddite rejection of capitalism and technology, as well as a moral relativism that rejects absolutes.

Coltrane however, spent his career striving for absolutes. Trane had reverence for that which came before, but he was also an innovator. His all too brief life radically altered the landscape of American music. A Love Supreme is certainly a permanent thing.

What’s the “J” stand for?

Jazz Week (regis. req'd) reports Time Warner is morphing BET On Jazz into BET J, which in addition to the random jazz program, will also feature a wide array of music. As laid out in a corporate statement: “Jazz today is seen, heard, and felt in a number of related genres, including blues, soul, R&B, Caribbean, and Neo-Soul music.” Of course R&B and soul had been so hard to find on the original BET. I can’t help suspecting they blinked too soon. If congress allows a la carte cable purchasing, niche channels with a low monthly fee, presumably like BET On Jazz, would benefit tremendously. Now instead of the having the jazz niche pretty well sown up, their competing with the other Caribbean and R&B outlets, including the original BET.

If truth be told, BET On Jazz never effectively catered to the jazz audience. Instead of documenting fresh players on the scene today like Greg Osby and E.S.T., too often they gave viewers “Najee Live in the Caribbean,” at a time when smooth jazz radio is on life support. It was hard for a jazz die-hard like me to get too excited about BET On Jazz, when we can pick-up DVDs of John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, and Cannonball Adderley live on Ralph Gleason’s Jazz Casual for less than the cost of a month of Manhattan cable.

Still, it is disappointing to see TW further marginalize jazz. I have to give Chairman Dick Parson great credit for his support of the Jazz Foundation of America. Parsons has also been mentioned as a potential Republican successor to Mike Bloomberg, which I could certainly get behind. I suppose business is business. In an a la carte universe, real jazz could have been a real alternative. Would you pay a buck twenty-nine a month to hear something you’ve never heard before every night? What will you be willing to pay for BET J?