[Frank Stearns]

JackA writes:

-snips-

Oh, okay, Frank. Thanks. I didn't see any credits, other than song writing.

Actually, this is why I began to lose interest in music, primarily about th=
e '80's, less musicians, more fabricated sound (cheapen the production). Li=
sten to Pop music today. I had trouble of accepting overdubbing! Luckily, i=
t doesn't seem this quest for fabrication hasn't hit Jazz music. I mean, fr=
om what I hear of Jazz on radio stations like WRTI-FM, still real musicians=
, even real sounding drums. I can appreciate it.

Well, strictly as a matter of personal opinion, I've come to disdain most of what's
called "jazz" these days, even though production values can be high. Seems to be a
symptom of the same underlying problem -- the disappearance of authentic music,
music where someone has sweated the hours of practice, along with the hours of study
devoted to fully understanding the history and broader horizons of their music, all
in an effort to elevate the art as high as humanly possible, and even beyond.

Most jazz I hear (and record) these days is for the most part mindless noodling.
Some players are smugly self-satisified because they've improv'd something. Yeah,
and my 11 month old niece can scribble on the wall with crayon and "improv" a
picture. Gimme a break.

Would-be jazz players ought to at least study the jazz written by Leonard Bernstein
or Dave Brubeck (among others, or even go back and understand some of the early
rules of jazz), and even study a few classical composers -- and then develop the
chops to play it all well.

At that point, after they've understood the fundamentals and have the foundation,
future musical noodling might actually have some value, rather than just an excuse
to hide a lack of depth, or prop up what is too often just musical slouching or
musical bad posture.

Sorry to offend any jazz devotees; again, just an opinion.

Frank
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