BENEATH THE SPIN • ERIC L. WATTREE
RE: Jay's Jazz Journeys:
Before You Point Your Finger at Fellow Musicians, You Should Smell it First
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I found Jay Jackson’s L.A. Jazz.Com review of the open-mic and jam session held at the Industry Café in Culver City, Ca both condescending and less than productive. It left me wondering about his agenda. Is the point of his column to promote jazz in the Los Angeles area, or simply to promote himself? Mr. Jackson, who pursues singing, acting, and journalism, comes off in his article as though he has an image of himself as the consummate professional assessing the potential of the “little people” as he looks down from his perch atop Mt. Olympus.
.I was immediately put off by his description of Rose Gales’ quartet as “Gales and her merry men of jazz.” Rose Gales’ (widow of the late, great, Thelonious Monk bassist, Larry Gales) group was made up of dead-serious musicians all, and I can’t think of any group of serious professionals who wants to be referred to as a “merry group” of anything. The phrase suggests a condescending attitude toward not only the entire group, but their level of professionalism. I doubt very seriously that Jackson would refer to the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra as “Gustavo Dudamel and his merry group of fiddlers.” That may seem nitpicky on my part, but it’s offhanded slights such as this that forges a negative subliminal perception among the people toward jazz, one of the world’s great art forms. It's also responsible for some of the greatest musicians in the world having to drive cabs for a living. So frankly, I resent it.
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And speaking of condescension and nitpicking, Jackson’s column was filled with “slapliments” and totally unnecessary negativity toward the other performers as well. At one point he said, “Speaking of fun, Lindarella (Linda Saito) showed up for a few selections. While not possessing the best voice, she certainly knows fun. Her version of "Kansas City" and "Isn't It Romantic" brought smiles as she got through the two classics.”
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“Showed up?” “While not possessing the best voice?” “She GOT THROUGH the two classics?” By who’s standards is he judging this lady? Did Billie Holiday or Eddie Jefferson have the greatest voices in jazz? I don’t think so, yet they both contributed more to jazz than some of the greatest voices in the world.
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Jackson even went so far as to criticize some of the musicians’ manner of dress. He said, “In closing, it's a good night when open mic crowds nearly fill a restaurant, as was the case. Perhaps that might encourage some of the band members to dress a bit more appropriately for the occasion. Blue jeans and wrinkled shirts may work for the local grunge band, but for jazz it's bad form.”
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In response, I’d like to suggest that if Bird, Dexter Gordon, or Trane could return to share their artistry I wouldn’t care if they showed up in their pajamas. Bud Powell was known to show up with one pant leg rolled up to the knee. Thus, it’s a musician’s artistry that counts, not his or her sartorial splendor. I’ve seen industry-promoted musicians show up at the Grammys wearing untied tennis shoes, pants on backwards, and caps on sideways, and no one seemed to even notice. Sure it would be wonderful if all musicians - jazz and all others -showed up decked out in the finest threads, but their failure to do so is hardly grist for a music review.
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One of the few instances of unmitigated praise I found on the entire page was reserved for Jackson himself in his profile. He referred to himself as “a hypnotic mix of Lou Rawls, Johnny Hartman and Tom Jones”(?). So I felt obliged to go check him out on Youtube (This Can’t Be Love) - and ironically, he was appearing at the very same club that he was reviewing. Frankly, he’s not bad, but I couldn’t verify any comparison between himself and the men he compared himself to at all. We think of the men he cited as having strong, robust voices, while he was being drowned out by the keyboard player. In addition, he was off pitch several times during the tune.
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So in true slapimentary fashion, I’d say that while Jackson is a pretty good second-string singer, actor, and journalist - at least, during this time when true journalism is going down the drain - he’s far from ready to move to Mt. Olympus, and he should keep that in mind while reviewing the artistry of his fellow musicians. And by the way, he was immaculately dressed during his performance, and it didn’t help a bit.
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Eric L. Wattree
Religious bigotry: It's not that I hate everyone who doesn't look, think, and act like me - it's just that God does.
Jay Jackson:
ReplyDelete.
Mr. Wattree, I was directed here by a mutual friend, who I won't mention. First, I certainly respect your right to criticize my critique of the jam session at Industry Cafe. You are, indeed, an eloquent writer and linguist. But for the sake of clarification, I hope you take these comments to heart. To suggest I was critical of Rose and the players there is patently false. As a journalist (as you call yourself) to read contempt for Rose and the players from what I wrote suggests you're the one with the agenda. I have always had, and always will, have the highest level of respect for Rose and everybody on that stage. Whatever it is that has you so angry, try not to let it cloud your judgement. You come across as a fool who nobody in this town takes seriously.
Eric L. Wattree:
ReplyDelete.
@Jay Jackson,
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I suggest that you re-read my article. I think I was quite clear in my comments that it was your condescending attitude that I resented. In the very first sentence of the article - you know, what journalists call the lead - I said, “I found Jay Jackson’s L.A. Jazz.Com review of the open-mic and jam session held at the Industry Café in Culver City, Ca both condescending and less than productive.” That said it all.
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I then went on to substantiate my contention. While I don’t know what your intentions were, since I’m not a mind reader, I began discussing the subliminal message that articles like yours tend to send about jazz - that it’s something less than an art form to be taken seriously. Due to such thinking the public refused to give people like Bird, Thelonious Monk, and Bud powell, their flowers while they could smell ‘em.
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In that respect, you referred to Rose Gales’ quartet as “Gales and her merry men of jazz.” So again, I’ll ask the question that I asked in my response. Would you refer to the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra as “Gustavo Dudamel and his merry group of fiddlers? Maybe you would, but I doubt it, because even you would recognize that it would be considered, to use your words, “bad form.” So why don’t jazz musicians deserve, at the very least, the same level of reverence?
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Sure, the overall tone of your review was mostly positive, but how could it not be? You work as a singer at that very same venue that you were reviewing - in which case, as any good journalist should know, you have an obligation to mention that fact somewhere in the review as a full disclosure statement. While you do point that out in your profile, your profile may not always be disseminated with the review itself.
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But be that as it may, again, even in your mostly positive tone, you saw fit to insert unnecessarily negative reservations in just about every positive comment that you made. You said of Charles ‘Hollywood,’ While a bit loud for the size of the room, Charles' evasive mix of Lou Rawls and Johnny Mathis vocals seem to make the crowd move on command.” Then you said of Lindarella (Linda Saito), While not possessing the best voice, she certainly knows fun.
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Continued:
Finally, in your closing paragraph you say, “In closing, it's a good night when open mic crowds nearly fill a restaurant, as was the case. Perhaps that might encourage some of the band members to dress a bit more appropriately for the occasion. Blue jeans and wrinkled shirts may work for the local grunge band, but for jazz it's bad form. Clean that up, and you have a borderline upscale jam session that will no doubt make 2012 a great one for live jazz.” I mean, really, don’t jazz musicians get enough of that already without you adding to it?
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In closing, I find it amusingly ironic that in spite of your penchant for “slaplimentary” comments about others, you seem to have a very thin skin yourself. You said in response to my comments that “You [meaning I]come across as a fool who nobody in this town takes seriously.” (“In this town?” Where did you get that, from a late night movie?) I don’t have a problem with that at all, however, but that statement alone betrays two unequivocal facts with respect to your thinking. First, it clearly demonstrates that you’re unable to take what you so generously heap upon others. And secondly, that you’re prone to dealing in unwarranted assumptions - an unforgivable flaw in any journalist. After all, have you interviewed everyone in “this town” to verify whether or not they take me seriously? And what evidence do you have that I’m a fool? Could it be because I refuse to acknowledge your illustrious infallibility? I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if that’s the case.
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What is clearly foolish, however, is the kind of arrogance that would lead one musician to set himself up to double as reviewer of the performances of other musicians who just might possess superior talent to his own, in which case, he may not be qualified to assess their musicianship. It is also fool hearty to try to set one’s self up as the Ann Landers of jazz etiquette, when the very culture of jazz has, and always will be, defined by independent-thinking iconoclasts. Without them, there is no jazz.
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So Jay, your tendency to want to establish rules of music, conduct, and dress upon a culture that’s renowned for its strict avoidance of regimentation is a fool’s errand. It brings to mind a critic early in John Coltrane’s development who referred to Trane’s playing as “just a lot of noise.” His success in trying to restrain Trane from doing his thing, his way, can be measured by the fact that at this point people are speaking of Trane all over the globe, while I can’t even remember the reviewer’s name.
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So Jay, with all due respect, I stand by every syllable of my previous comment.
Eric L. Wattree
Man, I can't believe you did it again!!!
ReplyDeleteJay,
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I see you’re still trying to be the Emily Post of jazz etiquette with regard to a musician’s personal choice in dress. You were riding that dead horse in your last column on the Industry café, and now you’ve hopped right back on it again in your review of Nola’s. Man, you need to give this nonsense a break. First, it’s an unnecessary distraction, and secondly, it has absolutely nothing to do with the quality of jazz that’s being presented.
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You said, “Drummer Ivan Cotton has some really nice chops, a deft touch and unbreakable tempo control. But, the t-shirt and jeans look has got to go. If I had an a & r with me, they'd have a hard time getting past the aesthetic - that's part of what's being sold, along with the music. Show business requires a business mind. Jam session or not, your appearance can take you a long way. On that note, Provisor needs black dress socks, not white tube socks. Maybe I'm being picky, but if I saw Placido Domingo performing in his play clothes, I'd think he was turning his nose up at me. Isn't Jazz at the same level as opera or classical? Domingo, a jazz lover, would no doubt think so.”
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Man, you spent one sentence discussing Cotton’s artistry, which even you say was exceptional, then you went on to waste seven sentences ranting about his t-shirt - and in a music review! Don’t you find that just the least bit problematic? I mean, if you’re that fixated on fashion maybe you’re missing your true calling. Perhaps you should stop writing about jazz and apply for a gig at Glamour Magazine.
Dear Eric,
ReplyDeleteJust a note to thank you for your comments about Jay Jackson's review of my performance at Industry Cafe & Jazz. I don't read reviews regarding me but I made an exception when I heard from several people about Jay's review and, more especially, your response. It was, at first, devastating to see that Jay considered my voice not up to his "Mount Olympus standards". It's true that, as a jazz singer, every time I perform it's different. I do that on purpose because I think that's what jazz is - creativity (silly me!). I feel that if I can't bring creativity to the table, why bother "showing up"? I have yet to discover Jay's creative side. I love the way he talked out of the other side of his mouth when I mentioned his review and tried to clean it up by saying "I said "you brought the fun". Jazz life is difficult enough without a 'colleague' jumpin' on your backside. To paraphrase Smokey Robinson "It's a good thing to not take yourself so seriously. You didn't start it and you're not going to end it." I don't really need any pompous ass telling me how I should be singing jazz. The other singers have mentioned to me several times how much they love the energy I bring to the stand and how they appreciate that I don't sing ink (that would be the creative part, Jay). I wonder if he ever really listened to a jazz record. When they yell "We want Lindarella!! We want Lindarella!! they want to hear me sing - with my less-than-perfect voice - (poor misguided peeps!) I wonder what these people are smoking who tell me my voice is so beautiful and mesmerizing. Must have been on one of my good or better days. As for his take on "Angel Eyes", it's nowhere near the shopworn aspect of his Johnny B. Goode/Maybelline medley. I can only dream of being the self-promoter that Jay is. Oh, and I've never sung "Isn't It Romantic". (oops!!)
Hi Lindarella,
DeleteThank you so much for contacting me. It was indeed my pleasure to come to your defense in response to the "slapliment" lodged against you in Jay Jackson's column.
I haven't personally heard you sing, but you certainly have a lot of friends and fans who obviously believe that you deserve a lot more credit, and respect, than Jay afforded you in his column. And even without personally having been in attendance at your performance, I thought Jay's comment was unnecessarily critical.
Prior to writing my response to Jay's column I took the time to inquire about you among musicians with opinions that I respect. The consensus among your peers is that you're a real crowd-pleaser and you have much to contribute to the business. A sentiment that popped up more than once is that you're a passionately talented singer, and a real "sweetheart."
So please stay in touch, and keep me informed of what you're doing around town - and that's not just a platitude, I mean it sincerely. I look forward to hearing you in person in the very near future.
Eric