Ken Burns "Jazz"
ChrisDS2
"Jazz", But I didn't get around to reading it. Is Ken Burns planning a
documentary on jazz? If anyone knows, please E-MAIL.
thanks
Chris Johansen
Stephen Provizer
: I saw a subject title on this newsgroup a few months that read, Ken Burns
I think I speak for many when I say that Burn's tin ear
has already been the cause of much consternation. The
blown opportunities for including interesting music in what he's
produced so far make me cringe at what he'd do for a
program on Jazz. Please say it ain't so...
S.Provizer
TornCot
me wrong, Foote's a great writer, but he was on BASEBALL even though he's
no authority on the subject. And it would be awful if Burns included Billy
Crystal in JAZZ- I think the guy's a big phoney. He might turn up though,
since his dad did own a jazz club
Dave "Blue Gourami" Krugman
su...@phoenix.net
Re Shelby Foote appearing in KB's Jazz:
Foote has written several short stories about jazz. I imagine he'll surface at
some point in the thing.
Dennis Whelan
released it could set the record for activity in this newsgroup. The
critics had a field day (pun intended) with "Baseball"; we should heat up
the phone lines for months with "Jazz".
Regards,
Dennis
-
DENNIS WHELAN HPF...@prodigy.com
Jason Chervokas
Whelan)' wrote:
>I have heard that this is indeed his latest project
same academic talking heads over and over again, incorrect footage used
either mistakenly or worse, intentionally, and of course freakin'
unimaginative music.
Does anyone know who's writing and researching the thing?
Take care
--
Jason
Matthew Snyder
I recall reading somewhere that his Dad actually owned or worked with the
Commmodore shop/recording label. If so, he must have had close contact
with LOTS of musicians.
Matt Snyder "I'm all in favor of getting grants for jazz
hsn...@crab.rutgers.edu musicians. Or any other good brand of Scotch."
- Pepper Adams
Matthew Snyder
>I think I speak for many when I say that Burn's tin ear
>has already been the cause of much consternation. The
>blown opportunities for including interesting music in what he's
>produced so far make me cringe at what he'd do for a
>program on Jazz. Please say it ain't so...
Well, you don't speak for me. I thought he had some great music in
"Baseball." Lots of jazz was in the score, especially Basie with Lester
during the segments on the Black leagues during the 30's. I don't recall
reading complaints here before on his choice of music.
TornCot
alive? If he died I missed the obituary
Dave "Blue Gourami" Krugman
Thomas F Brown
>I wonder if Burns will include Shelby Foote in his jazz project. Don't get
>me wrong, Foote's a great writer, but he was on BASEBALL even though he's
>no authority on the subject. And it would be awful if Burns included Billy
>Crystal in JAZZ- I think the guy's a big phoney. He might turn up though,
>since his dad did own a jazz club
Yeah, he sucks. But I thought his dad owned Commodore records?
alan hawthorne
Let's see, since the Baseball epic took such pains to ignore what
happened outside of New York or Boston, what should we expect from
"Jazz"? Will Burns be so busy scrounging around New Orleans and Harlem
that he lets backwaters like Los Angeles, Chicago, Kansas City, San
Francisco, and Paris go by the books? And I second the poster who
commented on Burns' ear. Can anyone think of a filmmaker who might be
persuaded to beat Burns to the punch if enough of us grovel enough?...
(This is the first place I'd heard about this, so excuse me if I
seem to be over-reacting. I enjoyed The Civil War thoroughly, but
please, Ken, PLEASE find something more suited to your talent).
Thanks, guys, I'm going to have a hard time sleeping tonight...
Alan
yer...@eden.com
Thomas F Brown
He would make a wonderful Toejam Jawallaby.
scooter
>
>All I have to say is:
>
>*Whoever* gets around to doing something of such scope damn well
>better give Herbie Nichols his due and devote a segment to one of
>the most criminally ignored geniuses in modern music.
>
>My $.02,
I understand the sentiment but there are soooo many ignored geniuses in
modern music. My personal fav in this department is Elmo Hope.
Certainly not suggesting that Mr. Nichols isn't deserving -- but there
are just too many. Who you gonna cut out to make room for him?
Scooter
Clusone
the heebie jeebies.
Dave Kaufman
I believe Milt Gabler is/was (?) Billy Crystal's uncle.
Dave K.
Larry Lewicki
I am in agreement with Matt here. I even worked up an arrangement (or
derangement I suppose) of "Take Me out to the Ballpark" loosely based on
Dr. John's playing after watching the series one night.
L^2
---
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*Larry Lewicki | National Semiconductor |Opinions are mine and in *NO* |
*l...@galaxy.nsc.com | Santa Clara, CA |way represent National Semi. |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Perry
I won't dog it 'til I see Steven J. Gould waxing eloquent on
the evolution of the jazz form.
Perry
Kenz William
: I won't dog it 'til I see Steven J. Gould waxing eloquent on
: the evolution of the jazz form.
----right, and George Will lamenting the harm liberalism has done to the
artform while he makes sure he includes at least 50 obscure literary
references.
Bill
--
William G. Kenz
Library - Documents Dept.
1104 S. 7th. Ave.
Moorhead State University
Moorhead, MN 56563
ke...@mhd1.moorhead.msus.edu
Stephen Provizer
Balliett's recent New Yorker article. My point in that discussion
was that when someone arrives on the scene with a great deal of
proven technical expertise(viz. Balliett and Burns), they tend to
be thrust into the position of being almost omniscient by the media.
What they say tends to become "the last word." In the case of Burns
this is particularly dangerous because he has no demonstrated knowledge
of Jazz and because ( this thread seems to running about 8 to 1 in
agreement to this) he seems not to have a very good ear
and a maudlin sensibility to boot.
As a journalist, I personally will make as much racket about this
as I can. The least I can do is try to make people understand
that Burns is not infallible, as PBS and the mainstream media
will try to make him out to be.
Steve Provizer
--
impr...@netcom.com
TornCot
Burns. After all, Burns is a national celebrity while Balliett is only
known to a relatively small group of jazz fans. When Burns does something
it becomes national news, when Balliett writes a piece it generally
speaking only reaches people who are very familiar with jazz. Burn's
interpretation of Jazz will have a strong effect on what people not
necessarily familiar with jazz will think of the form, his documentary
will be seen by millions. Not to detract from Balliett's great ability as
a writer but in a sense he's preaching to the converted. Those who read
him already have strong opinions on jazz, and those opinions aren't very
likely to be altered by a Balliett piece.
Stephen Provizer
: I have a hard time with Steve Provizer's linking Whitney Balliett to ken
Your point is well taken, but only in terms of scope. It's been my
experience, that the audience of jazz listeners and New Yorker readers
intersects to create a pretty small subset. This means to me that the
only information a lot of people get about Jazz comes from Balliett.
Surely it's his responsibility to be not only excited about the music but
accurate in his sweeping statements(i.e., make the differentiation
between the noun "Swing" and the verb "to swing" and to think twice
about making statements like "Count Basie and Duke Ellington, whocreated
the first great jazz orchestras"-certainly a debatable point, especially
with the relatively late arrival of the Basie band.)
In other words, Burns and Balliett share a sense of responsibility that
people like Ira Gitler, Nat Hentoff, et al do not.
In my mind, Balliett has the skills to do a job that evokes important
discussion, while I fear that the gauzy nostalgic sensibility
that Burns has shown means he does not.
Steve Provizer
--
impr...@netcom.com
Walter Davis
potential that Wynton Marsalis will play a huge role in
this. Of course, he's the leading public persona in
jazz at the moment. He already has a major connection
to PBS through Lincoln Center and other avenues. And
his current use of jazz as an analogy for democracy
seems like the sort of 'deep thought' that Burns eats up.
Now don't get me wrong - I think that any jazz documentary
made today that ignored Marsalis would be useless. But
it strikes me as quite plausible that Wynton will have
undue influence over the content, historical perspective,
etc.
I'll give Burns credit though - he doesn't shy away from
taking on incredibly complex topics. And, even if
quite flawed, I think it would be good for jazz in the
US. Assuming we're talking about something like an
hour a week for a couple months, that would probably
constitute the largest presence of jazz in mainstream
American culture in decades. And, if people actually
watch, PBS might schedule a little more jazz.
-walt
Walter Davis WALTER...@UNC.EDU
Department of Sociology and ph: (919) 962-1019
Health Data Analyst at the fax: (919) 962-IRSS
Institute for Research in Social Science
UNC - Chapel Hill