Envisioning A Rebirth of Jazz in Harlem - NYT

[Dan Gould]

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/31/nyregion/envisioning-a-rebirth-of-jazz-in-harlem.html?ref=nyregion&_r=0

Be forewarned, the first page has a couple of appalling errors:

At Ginny’s Supper Club across the street, a mostly black crowd of men in suits and women in heels sips and sways as a band turns out a haunting rendition of John Coltrane’s “My Favorite Things.”

But this one is much worse:

The early 1940s was a high point for jazz in Harlem, where young and brilliant musicians like Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Christian, Kenny Clarke and Coltrane jammed and experimented. At Minton’s, they created the genre known as bebop.

Even my wife knew that was wrong, Coltrane as bebop pioneer. The Times is pathetic.

[robertoart]

What's a wrongly ascribed 'high horn player' or two, between friends.

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

What's a wrongly ascribed 'high horn player' or two, between friends.

A Honker and Screamer without the honk

MG

[Teasing the Korean]

I think he meant to say "Ornette Coleman Hawkins," but when he started to type the "C-o-l," it auto-populated it with "Coltrane." But he also left out Wynton Marsalis, who played a very pivotal role in bebop's development in New Orleans way back in the early 1980s.

[robertoart]

Ahh...the 1980's....I was there.

[sgcim]

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/31/nyregion/envisioning-a-rebirth-of-jazz-in-harlem.html?ref=nyregion&_r=0

Be forewarned, the first page has a couple of appalling errors:

At Ginny’s Supper Club across the street, a mostly black crowd of men in suits and women in heels sips and sways as a band turns out a haunting rendition of John Coltrane’s “My Favorite Things.”

But this one is much worse:

The early 1940s was a high point for jazz in Harlem, where young and brilliant musicians like Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Christian, Kenny Clarke and Coltrane jammed and experimented. At Minton’s, they created the genre known as bebop.

Even my wife knew that was wrong, Coltrane as bebop pioneer. The Times is pathetic.

Gotta agree with you there. The New York Slimes has become just as repulsive as the Daily Snooze and The Post in its own Bloomberg-butt-lickin' way. The only time they write about jazz is when Wynton writes a new ballet about cotton pickers in the South.

[CJ Shearn]

Wow, what awful errors! Coltrane a bebop pioneer? Ok then......... I'm sure Wynton would pay them off too to say he was a bop pioneer in 80's Nawlins

[Ken Dryden]

Maybe the writer could have gone on to credit Rodgers & Hammerstein with writing "Naima."

[Christiern]

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: April 7, 2013

An article last Sunday about efforts to revive the jazz scene in Harlem erroneously included one musician among those who jammed and experimented in the neighborhood in the early 1940s. The musician, John Coltrane, did not arrive in New York until the late 1940s, so he could not have played with musicians like Dizzy Gillespie earlier in the decade.

[Teasing the Korean]

Coltrane could not have played with those musicians in person, true, but it is well known that he and Diz were able to record together by e-mailing pro-tools files. How do they keep screwing this up?

[JSngry]

They just don't know the technologicals, that's how.

[seeline]

Thanks, Chris.

fwiw, Kia Gregory covers Harlem-related news stories as a rule. Not sure that she's supposed to be a jazz expert in order to write about Harlem now.

Nice article on what it took for her to be able to finish school and land a job at the Times: http://news.temple.edu/news/2012-05-04/after-12-year-juggling-act-journalism-grad-moves-times

Here's a list of her NYT articles and blog posts: http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/g/kia_gregory/index.html

Edited April 24, 2013 by seeline

[Dan Gould]

I was going to write that the Times used to have half-way decent editors who would catch such errors but then I began to wonder - how exactly did she come up with such remarkably creative 'facts' as Coltrane-as-bebop-pioneer? So, no, she isn't required to be a jazz expert for the gig she has. But she's also not entitled to make up shit.

Thanks, Chris.

fwiw, Kia Gregory covers Harlem-related news stories as a rule. Not sure that she's supposed to be a jazz expert in order to write about Harlem now.

[paul secor]

Perhaps it's a good thing for her that she was able to persevere and get a degree, but I agree with Dan. If you're a reporter, you have to be sure that what you write is correct. At The Times these days, that's all too often not the case.

In this case, all she had to do was ask one of The Times jazz writers to check out what she wrote. They would have corrected the Coltrane mistake. At least I hope so.

[seeline]

I completely agree that the editing and fact-checking at the Ties - and just about every other publication I can think of - is severely lacking.

Still...