The weeks following a Black House workshop are usually an opportunity to take it down a notch and recharge. This has not been the case in the weeks after our performance last December. The Blue Label band has our first performance next week and it has been exciting and work-intensive to get all the music ready. I can’t praise my band members enough for their focus and willingness to put in the time to make this music work. With any new band, it takes time to gain a rapport amongst the musicians, but in this case things have been clicking early on. I’m really looking forward to presenting this band and this music.
Over the past couple of months there has been a lot of drama in the Kansas City jazz scene. The closing and reopening of clubs and internet controversies about race and labels have given us all a lot of to talk about. I don't have much to add on either of these fronts. I rarely went Jardine's because it was too expensive and I never made it out to 1911 Main at all, probably because I just wait for the bands I want to see to play at the RecordBar. Nicholas Payton's musings on "jazz" as a label are just boring. Jazz musicians complaining about being pigeonholed as jazz musicians appears to be a time-honored tradition. Can't we all agree that we use the term when it behooves us and and stay away from it when it doesn't? The word has the strange ability to help you attract press that you otherwise don't deserve, but it also has an incredibly negative affect on attracting audience members. No wonder we're so conflicted about it.
haha. I hadn't thought about the "jazz" thing like that, but what you said is true. It's a good word for the press, but your average person either hates jazz or knows nothing about it.
Posted by: Peter Lawless | 01/05/2012 at 12:27 PM
Man, love him or hate him, Payton certainly gets people talking. I think the semantics argument can be a good one. Jazz is ... [fill in the blank]
- Ashley
Posted by: Gusology.wordpress.com | 02/08/2012 at 11:56 PM