I was interested in Neil Cowley's comments during this weekend's JLU. He came across as being a pretty agreeable kind of character as well as reminding me a lot of the comedian Marcus Brigstock. The comments he made about his new record were fascinating and I was very intrigued with his remarks about engaging a producer from the pop field as opposed to a jazz musician. This made me pay attention as I'd previously dismissed his music as a Bad Plus style outfit and therefore of marginal interest.
When I last saw the Bad Plus they had engaged Joshua Redman and the quartet produced a performance that seemed to capture the spontaneity that is the essence of great jazz despite my very extreme prejudice against their music of hearing them perform for the first time. With Neil Cowley's trio there seemed to be a very conscious effort for the creation of a recording where the production process seemed to be as essential ingredient as the actual music. The resultant music was agreeable enough but seemed a little too polished. It seems strange to hear a jazz musician discuss his record producer even though this is a relationship which obviously exists with all records. For me, the producers in jazz who have made the largest contribution are probably Teo Maceo and Manfred Eicher and whereas the former may have contributed to some of the most formidable records in jazz history, it was done under the auspices of CBS which had the budgets to lavish on well-produced and marketed LP's.
Without doubt, a good producer same make a good recording in to a truly great one. Yet listening to Neil's comments and the ensuing record, I kept on being reminded by Mr Improv's famous put downs on the old message board of record being released as product as opposed to art. Neil Cowley's direction may be inspired by the reduced CD sales that have increasingly become a factor since Mr Improv's heyday yet a cynic might take the view that this trio effort was more of a pop act / commercial than most mainstream jazz acts. Granted that it wasn't as if someone like Dangermouse had been engaged to produce his record but the concept is so staggeringly different from the approach of someone like Bob Weinstock or Alfred Lyons that I felt this fascinating interview was worthy of comment. Surprised that no one has picked up on this yet.
When I last saw the Bad Plus they had engaged Joshua Redman and the quartet produced a performance that seemed to capture the spontaneity that is the essence of great jazz despite my very extreme prejudice against their music of hearing them perform for the first time. With Neil Cowley's trio there seemed to be a very conscious effort for the creation of a recording where the production process seemed to be as essential ingredient as the actual music. The resultant music was agreeable enough but seemed a little too polished. It seems strange to hear a jazz musician discuss his record producer even though this is a relationship which obviously exists with all records. For me, the producers in jazz who have made the largest contribution are probably Teo Maceo and Manfred Eicher and whereas the former may have contributed to some of the most formidable records in jazz history, it was done under the auspices of CBS which had the budgets to lavish on well-produced and marketed LP's.
Without doubt, a good producer same make a good recording in to a truly great one. Yet listening to Neil's comments and the ensuing record, I kept on being reminded by Mr Improv's famous put downs on the old message board of record being released as product as opposed to art. Neil Cowley's direction may be inspired by the reduced CD sales that have increasingly become a factor since Mr Improv's heyday yet a cynic might take the view that this trio effort was more of a pop act / commercial than most mainstream jazz acts. Granted that it wasn't as if someone like Dangermouse had been engaged to produce his record but the concept is so staggeringly different from the approach of someone like Bob Weinstock or Alfred Lyons that I felt this fascinating interview was worthy of comment. Surprised that no one has picked up on this yet.
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