Free lecture by Wynton on Fri. -- should I go?????

[Rooster_Ties]

Wynton Marsalis will present a free lecture at 3 p.m. Friday, October 24, in John Gano Memorial Chapel on the William Jewell College campus in Liberty, MO (20 minutes north of Kansas City). The public is invited to attend, but space is limited.  The lecture is sponsored by the Harriman Arts Program of William Jewell College and the College’s Perspectives on the Common Good lecture series. For more information, please call 816-415-7559.

I'm thinking about going --- not to Wynton's concert that same night (I think it's sold out anyway, not that I was particularly interested). Still, for some reason I'm moderately curious about going to hear his lecture in the afternoon.

If he takes questions after the lecture is over, anybody got any good ones for me to ask??? -- ( or especially any 'good' ones?? )

(I was gonna say that the college's warning that "space is limited" at the lecture, was possibly due to the size of Wynton's ego. )

Hey 'Free For All' - if you're free on Friday afternoon, wanna go???

Edited October 23, 2003 by Rooster_Ties

[Christiern]

If you have seen any of his interviews, you know that very little he says has any credibility. Q&A might be interesting, however--if the questions are aren't of the usual jaz mag variety.

[Rooster_Ties]

We all know what Wynton thinks of Miles in 1969, but I wouldn't mind hearing what he thinks of Larry Young's "Mother Ship". Would he be so quick to dis Lee Morgan for playing in such a "progressive" context??

Of course, I'm sure Wynton's probably never heard "Mother Ship", so I probably wouldn't bother to ask the question.

[AfricaBrass]

I'd go, Rooster. It might be a hoot.

Heck, if it's really boring, you can pull out a boom box and crank up Don't Fear the Reaper. Just don't forget your cowbell.

[AfricaBrass]

Of course, I'm sure Wynton's probably never heard "Mother Ship", so I probably wouldn't bother to ask the question.

I'm wondering if he even knows about Larry Young?

You should ask him about those Sting records he played on and tell him how much you miss him on the tonight show. I bet that would really make him nuts. (BTW - I'm just kidding, I know it was Branford who did this).

[Rooster_Ties]

You should ask him about those Sting records he played on and tell him how much you miss him on the tonight show. I bet that would really make him nuts.

[Soul Stream]

After seeing him play a few weeks ago, it makes me wish I'd gone to see him lecture instead.

[Rooster_Ties]

What if I asked him a fairly reasonable question that might allow him to save face, or perhaps even surprise me. (HA!!! – Who am I kidding!!!!)

Anyway, how about something like this...

• "Mr. Marsalis. Your critics often cite your well documented opinions about many of the more 'progressive' developments in jazz since the late 1960's (for instance, Miles Davis going electric).
  
  1) Do you feel that there are any widespread misconceptions about your views about modern 'progressive' jazz, and jazz-related-musics?? And...
  
  2) would you mention the names of a couple 'progressive' jazz artists who's post-1967 contributions to the development of jazz have been important to the further development of jazz?? (in your own opinion)"
  

[wesbed]

ask wynton if he likes gumbo

ss1 @ wesbed's house

[Soul Stream]

...Ask Wynton why he played like Louis Armstrong on Blakey's "Free For All" when they played in San Antonio a few weeks ago.

[Rooster_Ties]

...Ask Wynton why he played like Louis Armstrong on Blakey's "Free For All" when they played in San Antonio a few weeks ago.

[Simon Weil]

If it were me, I'd ask how he relates his ideal of integration (aka democracy) with his lack of interest in integrating women into his band. He's always drivelling on about how Jazz is the ideal integrated music, but has a blind spot (or massive great hole, depending on how you look at it) regarding women. You could also ask him how, if Jazz is such an integrated music, it has such a poor record for women generally.

Most other stuff he'll spin you, like the Jazz politician he is. I think he'll have prepared answers for questions relating to Fusion or Avant-garde Jazz - He's been getting more liberal (sounding) on those questions.

'Course I'm revealing my preoccupations now.

Simon Weil

Edited October 23, 2003 by Simon Weil

[John L]

1) Do you feel that there are any widespread misconceptions about your views about

Somehow I don't think that one would get very far.

Of course, we could somehow strike it rich and get

"yes, there are many widespread misconceptions in my views, but I stick to them anyway. When I was thrown into the spotlight as a young kid, I did a lot of talking. Yes, I trashed Miles post-69. In fact, I made a statement to Down Beat in 1981 to the effect that nobody did anything of any importance in jazz in the entire decade of the 1970s. I said that we have to get back to work on the artistic plane of Armstrong and Ellington. I said a lot of other things too. Maybe I should have toned it down a bit back then. But, you understand, I can't look back now. My credibility is on the line. I have to keep doing larger and larger projects that are more and more ambitious to keep up my image, to keep the musical complexity over the critics head, to keep the debate going that maybe, just maybe I AM working on the artistic plane of Armstrong and Ellington Now that I combined a symphony orchestra, a jazz band, and world music on my last extended work (Rise Up), I am going to have to move on to a large jazz band, a chamber string quartet, an Australian Dijeridoos ensemble, and a Georgian choir. Look, I have to do it. Don't you understand? I've got no choice. There is no turning back."

[Christiern]

It is said that your appreciation and embrace of the music of Armstrong and Ellington came late. If that is so, do you think you might also experience an epiphany in regard to jazz as it has developed over the past fifty years?

[Big Al]

Do the names Dizzy Gillespie and Lee Morgan mean anything to you?

[Rooster_Ties]

Up for some more discussin' - cuz the lecture is tomorrow!!

[chris olivarez]

You should ask him about those Sting records he played on and tell him how much you miss him on the tonight show.  I bet that would really make him nuts.

Troublemakers.

[chris olivarez]

Hety Rooster ask him if he has any Buddy Bolden recordings.

[Jazzmoose]

Then ask him if Bolden really went "bip-blatty-bip-blatty-doot toot", or if it was more of a "bop-diddly-dit-dit-tweetly-plonk"...

[Free For All]

How about if you just kick him in the nuts? Jus' open a big ol' can o' whuppass on 'im.

I of course won't be there but I'll be thinking of you.

Edited October 24, 2003 by Free For All

[Free For All]

Or you could adapt this question I've always wanted to ask Randy Brecker in a public clinic:

"So, Randy, when you see an altered dominant, like an A7(#5,b9), and it resolves in a non-functional manner, like to a GbMA7, well, how would Michael approach playing over that?"

All in fun. Love the Randster.

[Simon Weil]

I don't know if this is going to be a question, but we'll see what comes out of it. He must surely have some awareness that his credibility in the Jazz world has suffered a dramatic fall since Burns. In that series we learnt that, essentially, Jazz since 1960 was questionable - unless it was of the neo-trad sort that Wynton proseletyses. Or, any rate, we were supposed (or newbies were supposed) to learn that. But, being the boneheads that we undoubtedly are, we declined to take it at Burns/Wynton's say-so. Instead Jazz, as a whole, stuck to the view that there was something worthwhile in this music. Indeed, as so many threads here demonstrate, the post 1960s period in Jazz is central to what Jazz fans today listen to.

So, looked at it like this, Wynton has been indulging - via Burns - in an attempted revolution from above. He's attempted to de-legitimize a central element of what Jazz fans listen to - implicitly telling us all that we're a bunch of half-wits and that he (and Burns who didn't know zip about Jazz before he got into this) is judge and jury on this issue.

Unsurprisingly, this has drawn a quite enormous backlash - leaving Wynton in a position of lacking credibility as representative of Jazz amongst Jazz fans, while still being seen - outside of the music - as the face of Jazz. I don't think he can ever get that credibility back. He's alienated too many floating Jazz voters.

But he seems unaware that his credibility is that fundamentally dented. He goes on like he's still the King of Jazz. But that is an unreal conception. So I guess I'd be looking for a question to pin him on his lack of credibility amongst Jazz audiences.

Say: "As the public face of Jazz for ca the last 20 years, how do you reconcile that with the drop in Jazz audiences?

Doesn't it imply that you have failed and that should move over?"

Simon Weil

Edited October 24, 2003 by Simon Weil

[Rooster_Ties]

In other words, Simon, you want me to point out that the Emperor has no clothes, eh?

[Simon Weil]

In other words, Simon, you want me to point out that the Emperor has no clothes, eh?

You got it Rooster.

I thought I'd never get away with saying that line.

Simon Weil

[Rooster_Ties]

I think the key to discussing anything with Wynton would be to get past his semantics – since he's got such a bug up his ass about what is and what isn't "jazz" (in his mind).

Fine - then for the sake of discussion, let's not call anything Miles did after he went electric... ...let's not call any of it "jazz". But the central question, whatever the fuck you call it, is this: is it important and vital music?? Or (as Wynton has so often implied) is everything Miles did under the influence of electricity... ...is it all crap, and if so - is it all equally 'sub-standard' (in his opinion).

Maybe that's where I could go with this...

There's no question that the value of Miles playing "Time after Time" and "Human Nature" is open to debate. What I would like to hear from Wynton is whether he really thinks that Bitches Brew, or Jack Johnson is as much of as artistic 'dead end' as the most (arguably) 'noodling' and/or 'smooth' of Miles' output from the 80's.

And my question isn't really centered around Miles in particular -- but it's just that he provides such a clear example of electric music that was incredibly vital at one time, and clearly less vital at a later time (in a different form).

But theoretically I could posit the same question about Ornette's value in the late 50's and early 60's, as opposed to his electric output since 1975 or so.

Are there any other good examples I could use (besides Miles) to make this point???

Or maybe another way to approach this would be to ask what Wynton thinks are the most important developments in jazz since 1980??? And maybe specifically mention M-BASE as what I think is one of the key movements that has gone on to influence an entire generation of players, who are beginning to integrate M-BASE concepts (or similar ideas, anyway) into hybrids of M-BASE and other (slightly more 'traditional' - though not at all 'traditional' to Wynton) forms of jazz. I'm thinking of Greg Osby's output of the last 5+ years, in particular.

( All this – and yet I'm not 100% sure I'm even gonna be free to go to Wynton's lecture this afternoon. I may have a conflict that just came up this morning, drat! )

Edited October 24, 2003 by Rooster_Ties