7/4 Posted February 19, 2004 Report Posted February 19, 2004 I'm not keen on most of Braxton's standards playing...But Braxton is an extraordinary musician in the right context. I'm with you on the standards, and the one ghost trance performance I saw was appalling, but boy am I glad I saw him with Holland & Altschul (a sweltering night at Studio Rivbea). I have to be in the right mood for the Ghost Trance music. I don't think his minimalism pieces are very good minimalism (and I don't think GTM is minimalism). I think I've heard him perform three times: solos and duets with Evan Parker at the Greenwich House Music School in '94? a show at the Knitting Factory, and a show at the Kitchen. Quote
7/4 Posted February 19, 2004 Report Posted February 19, 2004 Now we're talking about Braxton on a Norah Jones/Blute Note thread! B) Quote
Dr. Rat Posted February 19, 2004 Report Posted February 19, 2004 The guy's a real life, large-scale, person. Doesn't fit in a box. Right, that seems to be true of everyone I've ever met. But "holy fool" isn't a box, it's a descriptor, meant to describe people, taking for granted that the label would be an inadequate replacement for the person. "Holy Fool" is my provisional and relatively charitable interpretation (I have a soft spot for holy fools) of a person I hope to get to know better. I am one of those folks with a great concern for certain distictions: between label and thing, for instance or between metaphor and actual situation. One of the great intellectual bad habits of our era: someone comes up with a revealing metaphor for something, and promptly forgets that the metaphor and the thing it describes are still two different things, no matter how good the metaphor is. e.g.: enthusiastic readers of Richard Dawkins Quote
Simon Weil Posted February 19, 2004 Report Posted February 19, 2004 "Holy Fool" is my provisional and relatively charitable interpretation (I have a soft spot for holy fools) of a person I hope to get to know better. Un peu patronising. N'est ce pas? Simon Weil Quote
Dr. Rat Posted February 19, 2004 Report Posted February 19, 2004 "Holy Fool" is my provisional and relatively charitable interpretation (I have a soft spot for holy fools) of a person I hope to get to know better. Un peu patronising. N'est ce pas? Simon Weil Oh, I wouln't say it in front of him. But, yes I have some serious misgivings about his whole schtick. Patronizing may be about the best I can manage at the moment: it won't last, I'll either be acknowledging his superiority or bitching at him like an equal soon enough. --eric Quote
Dr. Rat Posted February 19, 2004 Report Posted February 19, 2004 Now we're talking about Braxton on a Norah Jones/Blute Note thread! B) Yeah. how did we get here, anyhow? Quote
Simon Weil Posted February 19, 2004 Report Posted February 19, 2004 "Holy Fool" is my provisional and relatively charitable interpretation (I have a soft spot for holy fools) of a person I hope to get to know better. Un peu patronising. N'est ce pas? Simon Weil Oh, I wouln't say it in front of him. But, yes I have some serious misgivings about his whole schtick. Patronizing may be about the best I can manage at the moment: it won't last, I'll either be acknowledging his superiority or bitching at him like an equal soon enough. --eric It's just that the guy is bigger than I am - in terms of talent, achievement etc. Way bigger. And I don't think you're going to be much bigger than I am. So, to me, the idea of you patronising him is daft. I think you have the knack of getting people angry, though. Simon Weil Quote
Dr. Rat Posted February 19, 2004 Report Posted February 19, 2004 It's just that the guy is bigger than I am - in terms of talent, achievement etc. Way bigger. And I don't think you're going to be much bigger than I am. So, to me, the idea of you patronising him is daft. I guess I am not a particularly reverent person. I conceive of everyone on more or less the same scale. Daft or not, my briefly patronizing him does Anthony Braxton no harm. As he is, indeed, in certain respects, way bigger than I am. Braxton no doubt is a more talented and accomplished man than I am. But the comparison is empty: no one cares about me. I suppose I am puzzled by the anger, --eric Quote
medjuck Posted February 20, 2004 Report Posted February 20, 2004 To get back on topic (sort of) I'm old enough to remember when Blue Note was accused of selling out for to pushing what was then called "funk" -- not George Clinton but Blakey, Silver and Jimmy Smith. Many purists then probably thought as little of "The Sidewinder" as some people here do of Norah Jones. But according to a tv documentary I saw, Alfred Lion sincerely loved Jimmy Smith and not just because he sold a lot of records. He wanted to give up the record business and go on the road as Jimmy's manager. Quote
Chuck Nessa Posted February 20, 2004 Report Posted February 20, 2004 PLEASE stop posting to this thread. It only incourages the lamest kind of babel. Stop now. Quote
connoisseur series500 Posted February 20, 2004 Report Posted February 20, 2004 Thanks Conn. Not sure what you mean, Chuck. I deleted my post before I read yours. Originally, I said that Braxton's prose is pretty thick and it wouldn't be easy to get through a book if written in that way. Then I went back to the Braxton interview and felt I was beginning to understand some of it--but only beginning to. Really advanced abstract thought. It would be like me explaining a chess position in wholly abstract terms. Tough for the layman. I know a lot about many subjects, but this kind of talk goes over my head. I just happen to enjoy jazz and although I do some thinking about it, I'm not a musician and I can only go so deep. I bet Jim Sangry can understand Braxton's concepts. Quote
Dr. Rat Posted February 20, 2004 Report Posted February 20, 2004 PLEASE stop posting to this thread. It only incourages the lamest kind of babel. Stop now. Yeah, I might cut & paste more of that Braxton interview! Seriously . . . Look, Chuck, I probably don't need to tell you this, but you don't need to read this and you can keep your irrational hostility to yourself, as well. If your cherished beliefs can't be exposed to even the least bit of skepticism, you'd better keep them better shielded: stop reading. On the other hand if your agenda is to shut up the infidel, well, come on out and say it. Now I don't know you, but I respect what you do off this board. If you don't like me, fine. You are free to dislike me even if you don't have any cause to. But I'd suggest we keep the personal bickering off the board henceforth, okay? --eric Quote
connoisseur series500 Posted February 21, 2004 Report Posted February 21, 2004 I say feel free to post your thoughts on jazz, Eric. If I find it interesting, I'll stick around and add a post or two (if anyone leaves an opening where I can blast em! ) If I find the discussion impenetrable, then I move on. I'm pretty sure Chuck is okay with it. He's just cranky. Quote
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