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Is Reviewer Ben Watson an Idiot?


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From amazon:

Pianist Paul Bley begins by exploring the low, clunking end of his Bösendorfer, then plays a boogie riff, followed by a melancholy descending refrain and some jazz canons. When Paul Motian's drums enter, we marvel at the somewhat unreal multi-track recording rather than the playing, though his touch is as crisp as ever. Bassist Gary Peacock picks up on Bley's low-pitch intro, boiling some low-register funk. The improvisation on "Not Zero" resembles the bustle used to signify "busy downtown New York" in Broadway musicals. Did someone mention the word "jazz?" That's where all three players started. The ECM label claims the trio has developed a European slant, distinct from the "pure energy" of free jazz, emphasizing "subtlety, lyricism, and chamber-music sensibilities" (to quote from the press release). The abandonment of traditional rhythmic pulse is celebrated. However, unlike the music of Bailey, Oxley, or Brötzmann, this does not thrust the musicians forward into new realms, but strands them in impressionist stasis. As the disc proceeds, the languid pace and minor keys become utterly predictable, less like independent creativity than marketable clichés. After nearly an hour of this lackluster drifting, the sententiousness of Bley's meanderings starts to irritate ("Don't You Know"). This version of "free" is about sustaining a reverent atmosphere, not waking up to the sound of now. Any recourse to Improv proper would break the churchy spell. In the early '60s, the pianist Krzysztof Komeda combined the melancholy of Polish folk with out-bop to great effect. But this trio's free-improvised recasting of folk and jazz becomes soporific. Rather than turning improvisatory interplay into the main event, removing the bookending forms simply dissipates any energy. They sound like they could play this stuff in their sleep. "Not Two, Not One" has neither the variety nor density required for active listening, instead suggesting a species of highbrow mood music.
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And what's a "jazz canon"? Does he mean anything canonic (i.e. music in which one part imitates note for note and overlaps another part at a particular pitch e.g. canon at a fourth) that happens to occur in a setting that's more or less jazz-like (which would be a possible but fairly useless and/or really sloppy thing to say). Or does he mean that there is a particular way to play canonically in jazz that's different from the ways one might play canonically elsewhere? What a maroon.

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I've got to stick up for him here. I agree - the writing is rubbish. BUT, he DOES care about the music, and is a great champion of the British free improv scene, especially Derek.

I can certainly do without his writing - nobody get me wrong here - and I agree that he can come over badly. But, he is genuine about the music, and for my money, I'll forgive any perceived pretensions in someone's writing if I know they love the music, and I believe he does.

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maybe he should learn to write.

Sure - and I don't think anyone here is defending his writing? The only thing which would make stuff like this look creditable would be a side-by-side with a Thom Jurek piece...

But, I'll say it again, Watson isn't a dilletante - he know's his stuff, and does care about the music. 'Maybe he should learn to write' is an exhortation which, let's face it, applies to more music writers than not! :)

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