Don Was on Blue Note

[Lazaro Vega]

http://www.philly.com/philly/entertainment/207635961.html

[CJ Shearn]

Hasn't BN already played "small ball" with literally hundreds of "new" records deleted in the past 15 years? Or was that them putting too much stock into certain artists?

[Chuck Nessa]

Blue Note finished in the late '60s. Other stuff under the name is counterfeit. Time to move on.

[JSngry]

Don Was, the bass player, producer, bandleader, songwriter, and now president of the storied jazz label Blue Note Records, divides the world differently.

"There are two kinds of music," Was says. "Generous music and selfish music."

..................................................

By "generous," Was means music "that's open, that has something to offer to the listener, something to give."

That's in contrast to "selfish" music, which the 60-year-old multi-tasker - whose production credits include Bonnie Raitt, the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Solomon Burke, Willie Nelson, John Mayer, Aaron Neville, Elizabeth Cook, Iggy Pop, and Philadelphia songwriter Amos Lee - says is easy to identify.

"It's music made by self-centered [expletives] who get up on stage and say, 'Check this out, look what I can do.' We're not interested in that. We're interested in generous music."

hmmmmm....yes, but as head of a record company, what are you trying to say, exactly? Who are you trying to get to be "generous" and to whom?

I'd like to think that I'd give Mr. Was a generous "fuck you" if I was sincerely trying to reach an audience of my own and he pulled that shit on me becasue I wasn't interested in trying to reach him.

OTOH, I do know what he means. I just don't know who he means it about and why.

Just shut (the fuck) up and make good records that speak for themselves. That would be generous.

[Teasing the Korean]

Exactly when was Don on Blue Note?

[JSngry]

Here, at least/apparently. but a bif Who cAres? from me.

[ValerieB]

are any of you guys familiar with Gregory Porter or Robert Glasper or Wayne Shorter?!?

[marcello]

"It's music made by self-centered [expletives] who get up on stage and say, 'Check this out, look what I can do.' We're not interested in that. We're interested in generous music."

That seems like corporate-speak for "We don't want to record you" to the artist, and "We really don't know what we're doing or why" to the public.

[JSngry]

are any of you guys familiar with Gregory Porter or Robert Glasper or Wayne Shorter?!?

I find Porter's stuff to be shallow and boring, Glasper's to be shallow yet engaging, and Wayne to be Wayne, which is to say, hey Wayne Shorter, what else needs to be said?

I really don't get Gregory Porter though. I'd much rather hear Saunders Sermons...but what does that guy have to do to get some profile?

But Gregory Porter? Nooooo....not for me anyway. I played Archie Whitewater for the block, and it worked.

Glasper, otoh, found a way to get both Saunders Sermons and Shafiq Husayn in on his record, so much props to Robert Glasper.

[Lazaro Vega]

http://www.saunderssermons.com/

Very different musician than Gregory Porter.

[JSngry]

This album (from 2009) is not like that, though:

And either way, Gregory Porter does not do it for me. I had to stop listening to his latest album, it was so grating on my nerves.

Different strokes, and all that, but on this one, that is mine.

[Lazaro Vega]

That's nice. Thanks for hipping me to him.

Porter's forthcoming sideman hit with David Murray sounds right in his wheel house:

[JSngry]

To be honest, I just don't like the sound of Porter's voice, period. Sounds kinda like, you remember how after the buzz over New Jack City had fizzled out & Mario Van Peebles was still getting booked on late-night shows and didn't really have anything further to talk about but put up this really..."engaged" energy to make it feel like he did, just trying too hard to convince about mattering at this time but you need to get people to believe that you do, that's what Porter's voice conveys to me.

It's that primal a response for me...the voice just does not generate any positive reflexive responses. I can tell he's a talent, but...I still haven't learned to like liver, and pretty much won't try to. And there's enough interesting stuff under that general umbrella that I'm not feeling a compulsion to keep trying.

[alankin]

Coming up:

Was "recently finished producing a quartet session with Philadelphia organist Joey DeFrancesco, sax man David Sanborn, vibes player Bobby Hutcherson, and drummer Billy Hart."

And the there's "Eagles guitarist Joe Walsh, who Was recently recorded with drummer Ringo Starr, singer Bettye LaVette, and a harp player named Mick Jagger."

[JSngry]

Ok, Don Was Blue Note, where's my Ursula Rucker? Where's my Monday Michiru? Where's my Shafiq Husayn? Where's my Henry Threadgill (no need, really, Pi got that one just fine, thanks)? Where's my Georgia Anne Muldrow? Where's my Mike Ladd? For that matter, put out Nicholas Payton's Bitches. See if you can clean that mess up, becuase there's some good stuff there if you dig for it. Or at least offer him a do-over.

Robert Glasper was good (enough) for me, but do you really know where you're going with that? There's a whole 'nother door there, and I'm not sure that Joe Walsh is what's waiting on the other side...

C'mon mf-ers, be GENEROUS!

[king ubu]

furthermore, Don Was not exactly generous when he did that Dylan album ...

[JSngry]

"Generous"...first the ArtistShare thing (disingenuously presented as an opportunity for fans instead of a plea to them ), now this, this "Hey Music Fans, we're GIVING YOU something! Hey Artists, be prepared to GIVE US something"..I ain't buying that, because it's still Who's Your Buddy, Who's Your Pal?.

Which again, ok, that's how it works. But just...shut the fuck up, and just do it. Don't go all Benevolent Huckster on my ass, please.

[paul secor]

I guess that some folks care about this. Count me out. Then again, Don Was never did make records for me.

[JSngry]

Don Was never did make records for me.

A distinct act of non-Generosity on his part!

[CJ Shearn]

Joey D., Sanborn, Hutch and Hart for Blue Note? Are they trying to re sign Bobby or get Joey a deal? (he's on High Note, so I don't get why they'd sign him)

Edited May 18, 2013 by CJ Shearn

[JSngry]

Blue Note - Hitting A Newer Note!

[king ubu]

time was ...

[Jazzdude]

are any of you guys familiar with Gregory Porter or Robert Glasper or Wayne Shorter?!?

Funnny!!!

[Jazzdude]

interview with Don Was by Tavis Smiley

http://video.pbs.org/video/2309276228/

[ValerieB]

interview with Don Was by Tavis Smiley

http://video.pbs.org/video/2309276228/

thanks so much for this video, Jazzdude! I really enjoyed it. I met Was for the first time recently at a Wayne Shorter/Herbie Hancock concert. I started talking about my enormous love and appreciation for Gregory Porter and didn't even realize at the time that he had just signed Gregory to Blue Note! it was an amazing conversation we had. and obviously I appreciate his taste in music!! LOL!