Have Tribute Concerts Gone Too Far?

[Pete C]

As much as I love some of these musicians, as much as I love the original album, I find this just plain ridiculous:

*

Joe Lovano - tenor saxophone

Donny McCaslin – tenor saxophone

Sabir Mateen – alto saxophone

Vincent Herring – alto saxophone

Jeremy Pelt – trumpet

Josh Roseman – trombone

James Weidman – piano

Ben Allison – bass

Billy Drummond – drums

Matt Wilson – drums

In a reprise of Jazz Standard’s hugely successful Impulse! Records 50th Anniversary celebration earlier this year, an all–star tentet led by tenor giant Joe Lovano will assume the weighty mantle of reinterpreting Ascension, “the single re­cording that placed John Coltrane firmly into the avant–garde,” wrote Sam Samuelson at AllMusic.com. The original band (including Archie Shepp, Marion Brown, Freddie Hubbard, and McCoy Tyner) played Trane’s 40–minute epic in a manner “both relentless and soulful simultaneously…With a patient ear and an appreciation for the finer things in life, the reward is a greater understanding of the personal path that the artist was on at that particular time in his development.” Every member of this group is a leader in his own right, and together they’re sure to make this evening one of the highlights of the jazz year.

[JSngry]

[kh1958]

I think I would skip that one.

[MomsMobley]

vomitous-- and it sucked when Rova did it first, too. "Ascension" isn't in Top 30 Colrane albums btw but that's neither here nor there...

HERE, the only thing worse than Joe Lovano's insipid jazz career, period, Frisell's latest piece of cardstock & plastic dogshit. "Funny" how yokels will mock Chet Atkins latter day countrypolitan tendencies and still pay lip service to Frisell who, not content to sucking the lifeblood out of country-western guitar and calling it homage, doesn't have enough $$$-- and belive, he already does-- with inexpressibly craptastic "John Lennon" tribute-- a stupid-ass idea to begin with but done so goddamn TASTILY I wish John could come back from the grave and bash Frisell in the head with a little "scumbag" and watch his cute little NPR-donating ersatz environmentalist audience run crying to...

... their Joe Lovano tribute records?

Moms John Lennon Tribute

As much as I love some of these musicians, as much as I love the original album, I find this just plain ridiculous:

*

Joe Lovano - tenor saxophone

Donny McCaslin – tenor saxophone

Sabir Mateen – alto saxophone

Vincent Herring – alto saxophone

Jeremy Pelt – trumpet

Josh Roseman – trombone

James Weidman – piano

Ben Allison – bass

Billy Drummond – drums

Matt Wilson – drums

In a reprise of Jazz Standard’s hugely successful Impulse! Records 50th Anniversary celebration earlier this year, an all–star tentet led by tenor giant Joe Lovano will assume the weighty mantle of reinterpreting Ascension, “the single re­cording that placed John Coltrane firmly into the avant–garde,” wrote Sam Samuelson at AllMusic.com. The original band (including Archie Shepp, Marion Brown, Freddie Hubbard, and McCoy Tyner) played Trane’s 40–minute epic in a manner “both relentless and soulful simultaneously…With a patient ear and an appreciation for the finer things in life, the reward is a greater understanding of the personal path that the artist was on at that particular time in his development.” Every member of this group is a leader in his own right, and together they’re sure to make this evening one of the highlights of the jazz year.

Edited November 2, 2011 by MomsMobley

[PHILLYQ]

Tribute concerts are all the rage now(marketing hook?).There's so much rehashing of what was that we lose sight of what is.

[Larry Kart]

A year ago I heard a setting of "Meditations" at the Manhattan School of Music with their jazz orchestra (augmented big-band instrumentation, plus strings), with Dave Liebman and Randy Brecker as featured soloists. Liebman and the setting, yuck (IMO) -- Brecker was quite good.

[MomsMobley]

i love Kenton "Hair" and x # of other jazz meets broadway, film, tv covers... the key-- nay the essential ingredient-- is that they show the same re-creative ardor as went into the originals... this tasteful homage shit is muzak by any other name and not even as well played as, say, the best dermatologist waiting room bacharach-david.

[JSngry]

i love Kenton "Hair" and x # of other jazz meets broadway, film, tv covers... the key-- nay the essential ingredient-- is that they show the same re-creative ardor as went into the originals... this tasteful homage shit is muzak by any other name and not even as well played as, say, the best dermatologist waiting room bacharach-david.

Any "creative ardor" on this one came from Ralph Carmichael...all Kenton did was lend his name (well, lend is not quite accurate, this one was the final Capitol Punishment & is the straw that broke that camel's back) and a few block-chord readings of a ballad or two,

Nevertheless, pretty fun album to listen to, mostly, which is more than I expect this concert to be..although I do enjoy Donny McCaslin well enough, or at least his possibilities...would have like to have heard him in a different time/place NYC "jazz scene" instead of the one he found/finds himself in...

[Dave James]

Tribute concerts are all the rage now(marketing hook?).There's so much rehashing of what was that we lose sight of what is.

A logical progression after the concept of tribute albums was bled dry. There was a time several years ago when it seemed like a solid 60% of all the music released was an homage to some long gone jazz great. To me, conjuring someone else's persona is just a cheap date... another mile marker along the road that leads away from individuality, originality and creativity.

[JSngry]

Time for a tribute to the tribute!

[Pete C]

I think there are some tribute albums that work nicely, even entire album reinventions, but generally when a different approach is taken, or different instrumentation. The slavish recreations of things like Kind of Blue (I once saw a show that had Wallace Roney, Ravi, Vincent Herring, Jimmy Cobb, Geri Allen and I forget the bassist) are silly and boring, but I really like the Nels Cline/Greg Bendian take on Interstellar Space.

Time for a tribute to the tribute!

How about a V.S.O.P. tribute band?

[A Lark Ascending]

I suspect it's a pretty essential marketing angle for a lot of musicians. How do you get people into your concert rather than someone else's? How do you get them to buy your album rather than someone else's? You provide a hook, a point of familiarity.

Reflective of the times we live in - the Retromania of Simon Reynolds book I mentioned a while back.

Classical music is well ahead of the game on this. For decades it's convinced people to keep buying the same works on the grounds that the new version of Beethoven 5 is a stunning, innovative challenge to orthodox interpretations.

All needs taking with a pinch of salt - I've enjoyed many a 'tribute' concert, hearing Ellington or Horace Silver tunes played live (or on record) by others (much of Britain's Alan Barnes career is built round such things...I suspect he is one of the few who can sustain a career in jazz in Britain playing jazz).

I think it's the term 'tribute' that irritates - it's not a 'tribute to the music of...' but an understandable 'marketing angle making use of the music of...'.

Edited November 2, 2011 by A Lark Ascending

[PHILLYQ]

I think there are some tribute albums that work nicely, even entire album reinventions, but generally when a different approach is taken, or different instrumentation. The slavish recreations of things like Kind of Blue (I once saw a show that had Wallace Roney, Ravi, Vincent Herring, Jimmy Cobb, Geri Allen and I forget the bassist) are silly and boring, but I really like the Nels Cline/Greg Bendian take on Interstellar Space.

Time for a tribute to the tribute!

How about a V.S.O.P. tribute band?

The Nels Cline/Greg Bendian disc was a tribute, but they did the music differently, with different instrumentation and a fresh take on the music. That's OK by me, it's the slavish imitation/recreation that doesn't float my boat.

[Pete C]

The Mingus Big Band is, IMO, a good example of a repertory band that does a good job of keeping a legacy alive for live performance--but it also has the virtue of continuity from both Sue and some of the participating musicians. I love seeing them, but I don't own any albums, because on disc I'd rather listen to Mingus. Well, there is an exception: I absolutely love both volumes of this gig:

Edited November 2, 2011 by Pete C

[BillF]

I think the tribute concert is a genuine part of the way jazz is today - the classic era was half a century ago and a fresh take on the great achievements of the mid-20th century, as well as scholarly study in colleges today of what was achieved then, is a natural feature of this postmodern age, whether you're talking jazz, architecture, movies, popular culture or whatever.

I certainly agree that tribute activity is a marketing device and a hook, as Bev notes. I recall the leader of the the Tubby Hayes Memorial Band saying, "We're called that 'cos no one's heard of us".

[paul secor]

Reads like something out The Onion.

[RDK]

Call me when Kenny G covers "Ascension."

[Chuck Nessa]

Call me when Kenny G covers "Ascension."

[MomsMobley]

if this is what "jazz" has come to, it deserves to DIE-- nay, it should be put down like a lame animal.

"Ascension" is a LOUSY composition; the original is more annoying than transcdenent-- WTF could insipid Joe Lovan's version ** possibly ** tell anyone? Except that they were chumps who should have been anywhere else that night.

Also, while LvB 5 has probably been viewed from as many angles as necessary at this point, there are VAST plains of classical composition that deserve far wider exposure than nearly all jazz compositions ever, with the usual exceptions: Morton, Duke, Mingus, Braxton, etc. (but ** NOT ** Tony's mostly lousy 'standards' albums) (The Bird one esp. sucked).

99 of 100 Monk covers should not exist-- the 1% is lucky Charlie Rouse was half-lame.

Exception: virtuosic trad musicians >>>>>> the careers of these "Ascension"-ites combined (including go-nowhere Sabir Mateen), i.e. Vince Giordano is brilliant, likewise lotsa Randy Sandke projects.

I suspect it's a pretty essential marketing angle for a lot of musicians. How do you get people into your concert rather than someone else's? How do you get them to buy your album rather than someone else's? You provide a hook, a point of familiarity.

Reflective of the times we live in - the Retromania of Simon Reynolds book I mentioned a while back.

Classical music is well ahead of the game on this. For decades it's convinced people to keep buying the same works on the grounds that the new version of Beethoven 5 is a stunning, innovative challenge to orthodox interpretations.

All needs taking with a pinch of salt - I've enjoyed many a 'tribute' concert, hearing Ellington or Horace Silver tunes played live (or on record) by others (much of Britain's Alan Barnes career is built round such things...I suspect he is one of the few who can sustain a career in jazz in Britain playing jazz).

I think it's the term 'tribute' that irritates - it's not a 'tribute to the music of...' but an understandable 'marketing angle making use of the music of...'.

Edited November 2, 2011 by MomsMobley

[Leeway]

The only one of that tribute group who could have stood in with the originals is Sabir Mateen. The rest are pretenders, especially Lovano, who strikes me as a Readers Digest Condensed version of any of the great sax players you care to name. Just as bad as Wynton covering "A Love Supreme." Uugh!

I do disagree with Moms about the standing of "Ascension." It's a great work and an important work. I think its influence has been wide. It is a transitional album for Coltrane, in that he is adapting the language of Albert Ayler into his own idiom. The result is an explosive mixture. Anyway, I like it.

Couple of other tribute albums done right: "His Name is Alive presents Sweet Earth Flower" and "New Monastery." Generally, I can't stand tribute shows/recordings.

[Chuck Nessa]

Moms is my guide here. I agree with his post.

[JSngry]

So...you want me to send you a copy of that Kenton/Hair album?

Great version of Jack Sheldon doing "Sodomy"!

[Chuck Nessa]

Kenton, hair, Sheldon, Sodomy. Sounds like a David Axelrod production. :-)

[JSngry]

Lee Gillette, actually.

[Chuck Nessa]

U might have missed my point. No matter.