Mike Bourne, Bloomington, IU, & 1972

[JSngry]

[paul secor]

Have to say that Michael Bourne sounded like a shill to me when I used to listen to WBGO. Haven't listen to BGO in years, so I have no idea if he's still there.

[sheldonm]

Joe Bourne is a jazz radio guy in Bloomington with Ghost of Miles....not sure if they are related?

m

[marcello]

I believe they are related. Maybe brothers.

Michael Bourne has been a great advocate to many, many New York based musicians.

He's one of the good guys.

[ghost of miles]

Michael Bourne is still pretty legendary around these parts--lots of longtime listeners who remember him (he was on the air here from 1972 to 1984...before that, as an undergrad, he roomed with Kevin Kline). Joe replaced him in 1984, but they are not brothers. Thanks for posting that, Jim. Chuck Nessa ran a record store here in town around that time (early 1970s) as well.

[JSngry]

To me, the interesting thing about this article is how it captures the vibe of at least a part of the "jazz landscape" in the early 1970s. Jazz, nearly way-laid by rock just a few years earlier, had begun to recover, although in some new ways. The whole "jazz-rock" thing was rapidly growing, although it had yet, despite the title of the article to coalesce into "Fusion" (but that was just around the corner), and between the "horn bands" of rock, the various/numerous bookings of jazz acts at the Fillmore & other places, the willingness of many jazz artists to "loosen up" in terms of attire, repertoire, & instrumentation, and, especially, the growing recognition of the "counterculture" that so much great jazz has always been "counterculture music", the music was beginning to reach out into some new areas of audience exposure & recognition.

Of course, as the decade wore on, that played itself out in a lot of different ways, some better than others, and of course, we all know what ultimately happened once Columbia, who at this point was championing Ornette, Mingus, Jarrett, Bill Evans, alongside Mahavishnu, Weather Report, and, of course, Miles, threw in with the "Young Lion" movement. Not that it went from Point A to Point Z without anything in between, there was a lot in between, but here, in 1972, look at the vibe described here - young people actively hungry for all kinds of new, "different", quality musics, and at least some parts of the "jazz business" ready, willing, and able to service that hunger. Look at that and compare it to 1982, or, especially, now, when we have discussions about why young people aren't exposed to jazz, why don't more people like jazz, how come nobody buys music anymore, etc etc etc.

In retrospect, this "window of hope" ultimately proved to be just a fleeting (relatively, the ghost didn't really totally give up until maybe the early 1990s, and we still have people who are still believeing that it can yet be done, god bless 'em) moment. But in real time, it looked like it was going to be a great time for a long time. And truth be told, this spirit of unabashed eclecticism among audiences and cautious openness amongst musicians might have been jazz' last, best hope to avoid becoming the "niche music" (of an increasingly shrinking niche) that it has ultimately become. Maybe.

And maybe you had to be there for this to make sense. Maybe.

Edited March 17, 2008 by JSngry