Pete C

It struck me, this morning, as I was commuting to work, that there are teenagers out there, in America, in 2012, who have actually never heard of George Arliss or Guy Kibbee. Sad.

Interesting piece on the imbalance of performance royalties, or how ASCAP plays reverse Robin Hood: http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20120323/18055718229/how-ascap-takes-money-successful-indie-artists-gives-it-to-giant-rock-stars.shtml

Collin Walcott Paul McCandless Ralph Towner

I recently learned that Harlow was in a jazz-rock band called Ambergris. I had the album at the time, and the band opened for Mountain at the Fillmore East, my first show there, when I was 14. I remember the band and album being quite good, but it doesn't seem to have made it to digital. I wonder how many other later to be famous musicians I've seen without knowing it.

Christopher Lloyd Joe Christopher Joe Christmas

Cosmo Topper Neil the St. Bernard Bernard Madoff (no saint, he)

Froggy Andy Devine Father Divine

Mr. T Mr. Coffee Rev. William Sloane Coffin

I'm assuming the packaging of On The Corner (cover art, title) was partly a function of Miles' desire to reconnect with black audiences, yet the music is so freakin' advanced and off the wall that I'm guessing only the most advanced and adventurous listeners of any background really connected with it. It took me about 25 years to really "get it," but of course by then so much music was mining similar territory that one's ears were more prepared.

I understand perfectly where you're coming from, and it is indeed a matter of personal musical taste. But I do suspect the Surman of the trio with Phillips and Martin would have been a better match for Bley--I'd love to hear what he might have sounded like with Altschul & Bley in 1970.

I'd agree on both points, even if I'm not looking for the kind of "theory-driven" analyses that I assume you're more welcoming of. I'm just not convinced that a class-based lens would be fruitful for jazz history. Can I assume you're familiar with Hayden White's excellent work on historiography? Some of Ted Gioia's earlier essays deal with interesting "extramusical" questions about the cultural reception of jazz, like his piece on Ornette and the myth of primitivism.

I had forgotten up until now of a Bley/Oxley meeting that does work for me, Chaos. Here I think Bley goes further toward meeting Oxley on mutually fertile ground. My coolness toward the other outings may have something to do with Surman's presence too. For me, both Surman and Jan Garbarek took similar paths by the mid-to-late '70s that leave me quite cold compared to their very intense earlier work. I suspect that at one time Garbarek would have made a natural partner for Bley, considering how well his sound married with Jarrett.

Colonel Klink Otto Klemperer Otto (Make that Riff Stacatto)

When I got my Kindle last year I decided to read the complete works of Balzac in free, public domain editions (I had previously read four novels and several stories). About every third or fourth book I read now is Balzac, in the order he set out as his architecture for the Human Comedy. Right now I'm up to A Daughter of Eve.

Once we get beyond the concept in the abstract, just what do you think the contours of a class-based look at jazz would be? Do you see class distinctions, apart from race, as central to the trajectory of jazz history?

I knew nothing of his career change when I heard that he was opening for Cassandra Wilson at Carnegie Hall in the late '90s, so I was really looking forward to seeing him. Then he came on and did his corny showbiz bluesman act. I was horrified.

You're mistaking me for someone else.

Jerry Mathers Johnny Mathis Gustav Mahler

Right you are about those lineups. Now that I'm clearer on the particulars, I'll agree on the drummerless trio. I have Sankt Gerold, but I think there was an earlier one. It's definitely in the tradition of the Giuffre trio, but (not surprisingly given it wasn't a working band) without the same level of telepathy. It's the Surman/Oxley and Surman/Frisell lineups that don't click for me. I think in one case Bley/Oxley isn't working for me and in the other it's Bley/Frisell--and I'm quite fond of both Oxley and Frisell. I didn't intend my comment about Eicher as a put-down, I was just noting that, according to Bley those were producer-arranged groups.

Nigel French Giles French Buffy

I'd agree with Allen that social styles and behaviors are culturally defined rather than a function of genetics. The things that we can grant to genetics are certain physical attributes and propensities to disease (e.g., sickle cell, Tay Sachs). I don't know if there are any athletic accomplishments that can be attributed directly to a sub-Saharan body type. I do know that for many years the gatekeepers of the ballet world insisted that the African-American body type was unsuited to the art, a clearly unsupportable position based purely on a racially skewed notion of anatomical aesthetics. Perhaps even more egregious was a prevailing view, at least when I was younger, that black people didn't make good quarterbacks because while they had certain attributes that made them suitable for other positions they lacked the strategic acumen for quarterbacking (a canard that racists in my own family parroted). I don't follow sports, but I hope this POV is long dead. Views like this were promulgated by generations of anthropologists, eugenicists and all sorts of political baddies.

John, did you sing black music in Russia? There is this African-American singer named Ian Starr, who looks like a cross between Barry White and Tom Jones, who sings at Russian restaurants in Brooklyn, both in English and Russian. They love him in Brighton Beach.

I saw this excellent documentary on Butch's conduction work in a pre-release screening, and I recommend it highly. THE NEW YORK CITY PREMIERE OF BLACK FEBRUARY A MUSIC DOCUMENTARY BY VIPAL MONGA FEATURING LAWRENCE D.“BUTCH” MORRIS APRIL 2, 2012 8:00 PM The Anthology Film Archives 32 Second Avenue New York, NY 10003 (212) 505-5181. New York, NY – BLACK FEBRUARY, a film about an unprecedented series of concerts performed by legendary jazz composer and conductor Lawrence D. “Butch” Morris, will have its New York City premiere at the Anthology Film Archives on April 2, 2012. BLACK FEBRUARY, the first documentary feature by director Vipal Monga, chronicles a series of 44 performances in 28 days with 85 musicians, performed by Mr. Morris in 2005 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Conduction®, his revolutionary technique for live music-making. More than a simple portrait of those 28 days, or a biography of an enigmatic and complex legend of the avant-garde, BLACK FEBRUARY is a film about the creative process and the scope of a musical theory that is redefining what it means to make music. Along with footage from these remarkable concerts that span a full range of musical styles from big band jazz to funk, the documentary features interviews with some of the leading lights of the New York creative-music community, including Henry Threadgill, JD Allen, Brandon Ross, Graham Haynes, Howard Mandel and Greg Tate. The April 2 screening represents a homecoming for the film, which has already screened across the U.S. and internationally. Tickets will be available at the Anthology Film Archives box office beginning at 5:30 pm on April 2. No advance tickets will be available. Tickets are $9 for the general public. The screening will be held at the Maya Deren Theater. Seating is limited, so please arrive early. The screening is part of the New Filmmakers Series, which has been showing provocative and innovative work by upcoming filmmakers since 1998. For more information: www.blackfeb.com

Ava Gabor Gabor Szabo Javert