AllenLowe

wel, I don't think he fails to live up to my expectations but rather to his own - my description of what I think he's trying to do is consistent with his own explanations, at least as I've read in interviews -

and I do think he is trying to do those things - to play with form and rhythm, to open up song form, to add dissonance and to take the music both outside and back in - I just don't think he succeeds - compare his playing to that of someone like Paul Bley on standards -

sorry if I misinterpreted, Jazzbo, but to say "so what" negates the purpose of this board, which is exactly the opposite, to engage people no matter their opinions, and not to discount those opinions because they vary with your own -

yes, it does make sense - to address Dizzyspells - but I don't think I'm being elitist in my dislike, even though I may couch it in terms that most people would not use -there is a certain sense that he has made modernism palatable, which is not necessarily a bad thing - Monk is accessible, too - it's just that Brubeck is limited musially. Interstingly, those solo recordings of his in which he just PLAYS without working so hard to sound "out" are good solid examples of mainstream jazz piano -

I actually like the earliest trio recordings, but I feel he just did not (does not) have the personal musical tools to be the "modernist" that he wants to be - I give him credit for having the courage of his convictions, however -

"I like the man's work very much. Sorry you don't, doesn't make a difference." that's the spirit, let's get personal -

I was going to post this on the recent Brubeck thread, but I do not want to be accused of being a troll. Let's all be civilized here and disagree politely - I once described Brubeck's playing as being like someone who's always shuffling a deck a cards but never actually playing cards - I think he is completely sincere in his playing, but does not have the tools to do what he thinks he wants to do, which is to play around with and alter rhythm and tonality. He skirts around the issue, uses a lot of modern mannerisms, but just never seems to get to the point, to develop his ideas or make them into anything interesting - I do like the Octet Recordings, however -

yeah - and he's only got a half-bone on -

a smart thought, Jim - the best writing has a good balance and does not get bogged down in the technical, but uses tech knowledge as a way of expanding on the non-technical - I put Mike in that list because the Gigi Gryce book is a model of good jazz writing -

I think we should ban Robert Blake from here, as well - and Karl Rove -

it'll be interesting to see if it's him and how he reacts - I used to do this a lot in the 1970s, calling musicians out of the NYC phone book to see if they were who I thought they were - made friends with Tommy Potter and Curley Russell this way, and also had a long and interesting (if scary) conversation with Lennie Tristano. Called Gene Quill, talked to him briefly, but he had just had his accident and was friendly but brain-damaged (from a fall) -

well, I'm not crazy about Hentoff's music writing, but for other reasons - but there are numerous writers who deal directly with the music without getting technical, and who do it well: Dick Hadlock, Larry Kart, Giddins, Francis Davis, Bob Blumenthal, Michael Fitzgerald (who does both well - technical and non-technical approaches), Dick Katz, (a musician who writes brilliantly about the music and manages to be both technical when needed, but always accessible), Greg Tate (good writer for the most part), Charles Wolf (country music), Paul Oliver, Dan Morgenstern, Whitney Balliet (who can be annoying and way off base in his descriptions but quite good when focused) -

I will call the NYC Valdo today and report back -

I still wanna hear the Dizzy Gillespie story -

Hey - I just came up with this off of Switchboard: Valdo Williams 1261 5th Ave, New York, NY 10029-3822 (212) 828-1961 I'll give him a call tomorrow - no kidding - I like doing this kind of stuff, and if it's the same guy he'll probably be thrilled that there are people still thinking about him -

anybody know if Valdo Williams is still around?

I talk to him now and than - and I think he's still teaching at the New England Conservatory - Paul loves to talk about stuff like this - should be interesting (if he's not on tour) -

it would be interesting to ask Bley about Williams - I volunteer to call Bley and ask him - give me a few days -

isn't Duffy Jackson the son of Chubby Jackson?

it did seem very sloppy, and if the news accounts I've read are accurate, probably should never even have been brought to trial -

well, I will add that there are many good jazz books that are not technical and that can be read by the lay reader- funny this should come up tonight because I was thinking of starting a thread about good, readable music books (because I think many books on music are un-readable - not because they are technical but because of bad writing and editing, and the mysterious inability of some academics to actually deal with the MUSIC) -

the prosecutors had a weak case - and in that part of the world they can't convict someone when they have a GOOD case (thinking OJ) - Blake was innocent -

"likes to take long walks on the beach..."

I didn't know you could stop someone from viewing the board -

it's weird talking about him, knowing he's out there watching but cannot respond - it's like that episode of the Outer Limits in which a women preserves her husband's brain, puts it in a case, and has it watch her while she does everything he didn't like her to do when he was with her - of course, in arric's case, the brain part does not apply -