Re: Any one-hit wonders in jazz? (was Re: what happened to jazz??)

Date: 08 Jun 2003 23:17:15 GMT
Newsgroups: rec.music.makers.jazz
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John Abraham writes:
<< Within each genre there are going to be good musicians. And the best music
in each genre is usually made by the technically best musicians. If you mock
the whole gender it means you don't know anything about the skills that are
required to consistently create great music in that genre. >>
I agree with that -- although, as with any generalization, there are
exceptions. Genres like rap and folk, to name two, are defined by elements
which exclude certain musical elements. "Poetry masquerading as music," so to
speak. When the genre defines itself by limiting musical development, I think
it precludes itself from producing "great music."
...Of course, that's another generalization. ;-)
<< Are there any "one hit wonders" in jazz? >>
I suppose that depends on how you interpret the terminology. There are jazz
musicians who have had popular "hits," who then fell from popular view but
continued jazz careers (Herbie Hancock). There are musicians who started within
the jazz genre, but expanded into popular genres and enjoyed success there
(David Sanborn). There are a few jazz musicians who achieved relative "hit"
status, within the genre, then disappeared from view (Johnny Smith).
But if you're limiting the term to mean people who produced hits purely by
accident...no, I can't think of any examples. There have been a few popular
jazz musicians whose peers have described them as incompetent (at least three
examples come to mind), but that's not quite the same.
crib