Gulf Coast Jazz Collective - Music of Miles Davis Nov 17 Fort Myers

[Dan Gould]

So my wife sent me a link to a Florida gig by a friend of hers (vocalist who is more cabaret than jazz AFAIC), and that led me to wonder about other "jazz gigs" in Fort Myers at this venue.  And I found this first show curious to say the least:

 

JAZZ AT THE MACC: MUSIC OF MILES DAVIS

The Gulf Coast Jazz Collective opens it’s 3rd season with the music of one the (sic) Jazz world’s most important innovators – Miles Davis. Miles took part in almost every era of jazz including bebop, hard bop, cool jazz and fusion. As usual, the Collective will put their own twist on Miles’ music. That means high energy, excitement, and a ton of fun. The show features the phenomenal trumpeter James Suggs, who hails from St. Petersburg, Florida, to play the role of Miles. The show also features Tampa Bay saxophonist Aaron West in the roles of Charlie Parker, Cannonball Adderley, and John Coltrane.

(Italics added.)

The role of Miles? A saxophonist to "play" Parker, Cannonball and Coltrane? For that matter, what about Wayne Shorter? Not adept at playing that "role"? 

Struck me as very odd yet sadly indicative of something.  Maybe its only indicative of the kind of marketing that's required to make people reach for their wallets - name checking legends, even if they skipped one. I know calling it "the role of ..." ain't gonna make me want to go.

So - curious what others may think.

[JSngry]

It's jazz as repertory music, not jsut in terms of song selection, but also as soloist.

It's really not that much different than a Classical player being able to perform a recital of a variety of musics. EXCEPT - Jazz was not created to be this, Jazz was created for people to find THEIR voices. That's a major difference imo, and also a deal-breaker as to what I would want to support in any way.

If you want to hear the originals, play records. And if you want to hear live jazz, try to find somebody who's not doing this. Find somebody who is at least trying to play their own way. 

I would hope that this Aaron West guy is a fully skilled musician who is doing this gig because, hey, it's a gig, right? And I hope that whatever his real thing is gets some exposure as a result of this visibility.

And what I REALLY hope is that "in the role of" just means that he's going to play the solos in his own way rather than just the original solos by rote.

[Dan Gould]

10 minutes ago, JSngry said:

It's jazz as repertory music, not jsut in terms of song selection, but also as soloist.

It's really not that much different than a Classical player being able to perform a recital of a variety of musics. EXCEPT - Jazz was not created to be this, Jazz was created for people to find THEIR voices. That's a major difference imo, and also a deal-breaker as to what I would want to support in any way.

If you want to hear the originals, play records. And if you want to hear live jazz, try to find somebody who's not doing this. Find somebody who is at least trying to play their own way. 

I would hope that this Aaron West guy is a fully skilled musician who is doing this gig because, hey, it's a gig, right? And I hope that whatever his real thing is gets some exposure as a result of this visibility.

And what I REALLY hope is that "in the role of" just means that he's going to play the solos in his own way rather than just the original solos by rote.

+1, but I really hope that its the marketing effort giving the impression.

The saxophonist seems young:

https://gulfcoastsymphony.org/artists/aaron-west/

And ironically, the guy "playing" Miles was promoted by Arbors on his first CD (I included it in a BFT about three years ago probably) as having played in Satchmo-themed bands, I think on cruise ships where he had a steady gig for six years or so. 

[Milestones]

This sort of thing has been happening in rock music for many decades.  They will probably also try to look like Miles, Bird, etc (it's about appearance too).

 

 

[Teasing the Korean]

1 hour ago, JSngry said:

It's really not that much different than a Classical player being able to perform a recital of a variety of musics. EXCEPT - Jazz was not created to be this, Jazz was created for people to find THEIR voices. That's a major difference imo, and also a deal-breaker as to what I would want to support in any way.

I completely agree with your statement, but this concert - or at least the way the concert is being promoted - is not designed for folks with hundreds of jazz albums, or who frequent message boards like this.  If there is an audience willing to pay for this kind of thing, some players will line up to exploit the opportunity.  It is one more example of jazz becoming a legacy genre.

 

[Dan Gould]

1 hour ago, Milestones said:

This sort of thing has been happening in rock music for many decades.  They will probably also try to look like Miles, Bird, etc (it's about appearance too).

 

 

I'll be surprised if that's actually the case but if it is, if the saxophone tries to look like Bird, Cannonball and Trane, he better be getting paid better than the rest.