Review of a review of "Four MF's Playin' Tunes"

[fasstrack]

Shminovation! I like that. I like Bran and his group. And he's a good guy-not that I know him well. He has a good feel, sond, and control on all his horns. I esp. like him on soprano, Jimmy Heath being my other favorite. He also has a romantic sensibility I like. I saw them at JPAC in Newark in '04, when Eternal? (it had The Ruby and the Pearl on it) came out. My NY buddy Ned Goold sat in, and Joshua Redman, already on the bill, too. Lotta saxophones up there..Redman played his ass off. There was a bootleg of that 4tet swinging Royal Garden Blues into bad health, Bran on soprano. I wrote and told him 'put that shizzle out. Get the money!' I guess there are too many bootlegs to even keep up with.

[jlhoots]

Good album IMO - 4 MFs or whatever it's called.

[fasstrack]

A few serious comments re innovation/originality/self-expression in the arts and their consequences: I think we may agree they are different things, though certainly there is overlap. To me the hallmark of innovation is utility, something that people can put in their lives or creative palettes b/c it makes sense, makes things easier, or just plain is better than what preceeded. Bell w/the phone, etc. Originality is touchy and subject to debate. One can say a child made an original mudpie, to use a simplistic example. It's original but doesn't have meaning maybe beyond that kid. And his mudpie, like our adult mudpies should be appreciated and encouraged, if only b/c it's a thrill to feel you've made something all your own. I'm not sure if art is supposed to teach, but IMO it should touch. I think artists that are secure in their voices are perhaps not afraid of universal principles like human emotion. My favorite creative people are those who've gotten over 'cleverness' and aren't stuck in self-expression mod

[fasstrack]

Pt. 2: ...mode. To musicians listening (and responding) is everything. It's nice when that sensitivity extended to maybe thinking about the off-stand listener and maybe playing something that has to do w/their life. I DON'T mean dumbing down or playing down-actually the opposite. I think the artist that believes in and trusts human potential will not be afraid of not being 'gotten' and is capable of communicating w/o sacrificing an iota of creativity. And bless the mudpie makers too. There are some beautiful mudpies out there!

[Guy Berger]

If we don't innovate in our jazz, then the Japanese will beat us, like they have in everything else.

This is a quaintly outdated warning.

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

If we don't innovate in our jazz, then the Japanese will beat us, like they have in everything else.

This is a quaintly outdated warning.

Satire is satire, whether topical or not. But less poignant if not.

MG

[David Ayers]

Poor Branford and the three other blurry MFs. I feel their work isn't getting a serious hearing.

[Larry Kart]

If we don't innovate in our jazz, then the Japanese will beat us, like they have in everything else.

This is a quaintly outdated warning.

Satire is satire, whether topical or not. But less poignant if not.

MG

The out-of-dateness -- using an ancient phrase of grumpy complaint -- was part of the satirical thrust, no?