Wondered if anyone had read this article by Chris May ? He is a new journalist to me but has penned a piece that I thought was extremely interesting and provocative. In the light of seeing Kororoko this year, it was quite fascinating to see the wider picture of the current British jazz scene about which I feel really optimistic. However, the essay does raise some really interesting questions such as the validity of the current crop of white British musicians and the British avant garde in particular as well as the jazz education process in the UK. The article almost suggests that the Woke Jazz movement is going to make them irrelevant.
I must admit that I took some of the points made with a pinch of salt although it does raise some ugly home truths. The process of jazz education implemented by the likes of Gary Crosby is now really starting to take root. From what I have heard of the few musicians from this movement that I have heard, I would have to say that this is a wake up call to a lot of the mediocre jazz being produced by white British musicians. It would appear to be the most interesting generation to materialise in the UK since the 1980s and also the one with the most potential. Whilst I found myself nodding in agreement to a lot of the observations as to what jazz should sound like and how it should react, there are a few points that I thought were over -optimistic with some of the musicians slated as being significant still being second year music students. May seems to be a bit purple in his prose albeit I agree with so many of the sentiments that this article raises. Unfortunately, the article is sometimes unbalanced . From what little I have heard by these musicians, I concur that the music produced is more authentic than a lot of the rather drab British jazz produced throughout the 2000s. So much British jazz post-1980s has not been that inspiring or is the product to rather unthinking academia. It has become stale. The Woke Jazz movement is undoubtedly a breath of fresh air that is sorely needed and I welcome this. The negative comments about so much contemporary British jazz and the kind of music taught is so salient and it is not too difficult to try to imagine the kind of musicians targeted for being "inauthentic", if you like. a number of names immediately sprung to my mind although May avoids listing them!
I think that Jazzrook will find this fascinating as will SA, although I think the latter for wholly different reasons because the music celebrated is in marked contrast to so much of the more avant-leaning, white musicians he favours.
Plenty of food for thought.
I must admit that I took some of the points made with a pinch of salt although it does raise some ugly home truths. The process of jazz education implemented by the likes of Gary Crosby is now really starting to take root. From what I have heard of the few musicians from this movement that I have heard, I would have to say that this is a wake up call to a lot of the mediocre jazz being produced by white British musicians. It would appear to be the most interesting generation to materialise in the UK since the 1980s and also the one with the most potential. Whilst I found myself nodding in agreement to a lot of the observations as to what jazz should sound like and how it should react, there are a few points that I thought were over -optimistic with some of the musicians slated as being significant still being second year music students. May seems to be a bit purple in his prose albeit I agree with so many of the sentiments that this article raises. Unfortunately, the article is sometimes unbalanced . From what little I have heard by these musicians, I concur that the music produced is more authentic than a lot of the rather drab British jazz produced throughout the 2000s. So much British jazz post-1980s has not been that inspiring or is the product to rather unthinking academia. It has become stale. The Woke Jazz movement is undoubtedly a breath of fresh air that is sorely needed and I welcome this. The negative comments about so much contemporary British jazz and the kind of music taught is so salient and it is not too difficult to try to imagine the kind of musicians targeted for being "inauthentic", if you like. a number of names immediately sprung to my mind although May avoids listing them!
I think that Jazzrook will find this fascinating as will SA, although I think the latter for wholly different reasons because the music celebrated is in marked contrast to so much of the more avant-leaning, white musicians he favours.
Plenty of food for thought.
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