seriously, Chuck, who else is there to blame? If someone puts out an amazing recording, (take the aforementioned Kurt Rosenwinkel for example) and it gets ignored because people would rather listen to an old disc, whose fault is that?
Is it the fault of the artist for making music that he or she thinks is important? Nope.
Is it the fault of the record company for putting it out? Nope, at least they had the balls to do so. That's sadly a mistake that they won't be repeating in this age of downsizing. And they might as well downsize labels and make the bulk of their market re-issues, after all, that's all anyone will ever buy.
Is it the fault of the radio stations who need to cling to listener support to stay alive, especially now that the government is barely supporting public radio? Not at all. They need to play music that they know will keep businesses and yoga instructors tuned in.
That leaves only the listener that thinks that jazz stopped in 1965 or so, you know, with the exception of Wynton Marsalis.
That leaves the listener that only wants to hear standards instead of something that means something to an artist. That leaves the listener who thinks that a honking saxophone is distracting instead of blissful. That leaves the listener who thinks that no record collection is complete without Kind of Blue, but only listens to it twice a year.
And when the guy who convinced Bob Koester to unleash Anthony Braxton on us decides that new music isn't worth listening to, well, then God help us all...
TONS of misreading of history, aesthetics and facts above. I don't even know where to begin so I won't. I suggest you "write me off" and ignore anything I write in the future.