Jared's Response
The manufactured Mozart-Beethoven continuum has persisted (and most likely exaggerated) over time. Still though, I cannot think of an example of this spectrum as it applies to jazz. The myth surrounding Charlie Parker has him removing himself from society for months at a time, practicing for 15-16 hours a day, working on his new sound. Armstrong, on the other hand, seemed to have a natural knack for creating new sounds. After creating the jazz solo as we know it today, he turned to jazz vocals, which made him an incredibly popular celebrity. His voice wasn't pure, or refined, but people were attracted to his gravelly voice. Although I'm sure he worked and studied hard, Armstrong's reputation is that of a prodigy virtuoso. However, this continuum isn't seen as strongly as the Mozart-Beethoven example that Nettl examines.
The other spectrum you mention is the composition vs. improvisation. This one would strongly correlate to Ellington-Parker. Duke Ellington is renowned for his compositions, whereas Parker is remembered as a soloist and performer. Ellington-Parker would also seem to encapsulate up the clean cut image vs. drug user. Certainly Parker is the poster boy for drugged up jazz musicians. This lifestyle contributes greatly to his legend, in fact the two are inseparable.
Other dualities in the jazz world include traditional music versus 'new' music. For example, Wynton Marsalis is a big promoter of traditional jazz. He mostly plays in the style of dixieland, and emulates (to a certain degree) Armstrong's sound (both are trumpeters). Chick Corea, however, is a promoter of new ideas. He is more willing to blend jazz, rock, electronic music, ambience, and other instrumentations into the music he writes - which is classified as jazz. There is a large spectrum here, outlined by these two artists. Some are in favor of remaining traditional (a point of view that I believe to be contradictory to the idea of jazz), while some are for abandoning the tradition to follow new paths. The center of that spectrum would contain a lot of musicians that wish to build off of the traditional music of the '20s, adding elements of contemporary styles.
Despite the direction of jazz music today, these three artists will undoubtedly be at the top of the jazz pantheon in 100 years, just as Bach, Beethoven and Mozart will.
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1 comment:
Nice exchange. I myself am always interested when people set up the traditional/new dichotomy. Often times, the label of traditional has less to do with accurate representation of historical music, and more to do with efforts to legitimize one's actions.
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