I read an article this morning about a young musician called Connie Han who is a 24 year old, West coast jazz pianist who is getting rave reviews. She is not someone who I was aware of previously but the few samples you can hear on line demonstrate that she can really play.
The reason I am posting this thread is because I cannot recall a case of any other jazz musician's profile being sexualised quite like this before. The are a series of photo shoots on her web page which are quite staggering, not only for the provocative clothes but also the poses and facial expressions too. It is like something for a pop music shoot. You can also buy autographed copies of the photos too if you are that sad. If you think that this is just a PR exercise, try looking at the titles of the tracks on her new album where originals have names like "Boy toy", "Mr. Dominator" or ""Gruvy." Her earlier record had a photo on the cover of her wearing more pvc that is in the inside of my Audi. Things have moved on a lot since Elmo Hope!
The album includes some pretty robust musicians in the band including Jeremy Pelt. Most of the music seems to be in a aggressive, post-bop manner which displays her formidable chops. This would appear not to be Smooth Jazz or anything else geared towards FM play. Mack Avenue, for whom she records, is a very credible, if mainstream record label.
I have to say that it is really weird seeing a jazz album marketed like this. The music is the complete opposite of what the photo suggests. I don't mind seeing glamorous musicians on album covers and I think that the world of Classical music went down this route a good few years ago. There was controversy about some female performers being chosen for their looks and hence marketability at one point but Classical music has always courted controversy (since the days of Nige) in order to give the music credibility. To see this happen to this extent in jazz is bizarre because you would have imagined it would have had quite the opposite effect. However, it is something that has crept in over the last few years, perhaps starting with Diana Krall in the 1990s and there are other players like Grace Kelly and Hiromi who have flirted with what might be considered a "playful" image. I think the most "provocative" sleeve I have seen in the last five years is by saxophonist Roxy Cross but it you have a name that makes you sound like a porn actress , I suppose that comes with the territory. Mc Cross album was very much wrapped up in the #MeToo movement, so you could say it was ironic, even if the excessive tattoos made it look like she had stumbled out off a nightclub in Newcastle.
Connie Han's publicity is troubling because it almost seems disrespectful to the target audience for this kind of jazz. The music is very much in the "New Neos" approach that was so popular in the 1980s although with a contemporary vibe with the Fender Rhodes added on a few tracks. Basically, we are in Miles 2nd Quintet territory. I think that image counts for a lot in jazz, not only with things like cultish Blue Note covers, but there is an underlying and unwritten rule that the music must be respected. Miss Han certainly looks easy on the eye yet I am not sure I want to see a musician I admire wearing a micro-mini or a crop top. Granted, she looks fit but I think I would prefer to judge her on a music (which sounds really good) and not on whether she is hot. The publicity shots on the site are more suggestive that she is trying to target a 14 year old male audience and are completely out of kilter with how jazz musicians try to convey the music. I have not seen anything quite like this in jazz before although I note that Steinway have signed her up. I cannot imagine that this will sit easy with the core audience for jazz for whom the music is central and more important that anything else. If it is to serve any purpose, I have always felt that the album covers were there to reinforce the credibility of the music enclosed within. It is nice to see creative album covers as nothing is worse that seeing something which is uninteresting or devoid of creativity. However, my worry would be that this could be the beginning of a slippery slope and labels signing artists on the basis of how good they looked.
Judging my the expression on Ms Han's face, she does not look like she is to be trifled with! Though she be but little, she is fierce.
The reason I am posting this thread is because I cannot recall a case of any other jazz musician's profile being sexualised quite like this before. The are a series of photo shoots on her web page which are quite staggering, not only for the provocative clothes but also the poses and facial expressions too. It is like something for a pop music shoot. You can also buy autographed copies of the photos too if you are that sad. If you think that this is just a PR exercise, try looking at the titles of the tracks on her new album where originals have names like "Boy toy", "Mr. Dominator" or ""Gruvy." Her earlier record had a photo on the cover of her wearing more pvc that is in the inside of my Audi. Things have moved on a lot since Elmo Hope!
The album includes some pretty robust musicians in the band including Jeremy Pelt. Most of the music seems to be in a aggressive, post-bop manner which displays her formidable chops. This would appear not to be Smooth Jazz or anything else geared towards FM play. Mack Avenue, for whom she records, is a very credible, if mainstream record label.
I have to say that it is really weird seeing a jazz album marketed like this. The music is the complete opposite of what the photo suggests. I don't mind seeing glamorous musicians on album covers and I think that the world of Classical music went down this route a good few years ago. There was controversy about some female performers being chosen for their looks and hence marketability at one point but Classical music has always courted controversy (since the days of Nige) in order to give the music credibility. To see this happen to this extent in jazz is bizarre because you would have imagined it would have had quite the opposite effect. However, it is something that has crept in over the last few years, perhaps starting with Diana Krall in the 1990s and there are other players like Grace Kelly and Hiromi who have flirted with what might be considered a "playful" image. I think the most "provocative" sleeve I have seen in the last five years is by saxophonist Roxy Cross but it you have a name that makes you sound like a porn actress , I suppose that comes with the territory. Mc Cross album was very much wrapped up in the #MeToo movement, so you could say it was ironic, even if the excessive tattoos made it look like she had stumbled out off a nightclub in Newcastle.
Connie Han's publicity is troubling because it almost seems disrespectful to the target audience for this kind of jazz. The music is very much in the "New Neos" approach that was so popular in the 1980s although with a contemporary vibe with the Fender Rhodes added on a few tracks. Basically, we are in Miles 2nd Quintet territory. I think that image counts for a lot in jazz, not only with things like cultish Blue Note covers, but there is an underlying and unwritten rule that the music must be respected. Miss Han certainly looks easy on the eye yet I am not sure I want to see a musician I admire wearing a micro-mini or a crop top. Granted, she looks fit but I think I would prefer to judge her on a music (which sounds really good) and not on whether she is hot. The publicity shots on the site are more suggestive that she is trying to target a 14 year old male audience and are completely out of kilter with how jazz musicians try to convey the music. I have not seen anything quite like this in jazz before although I note that Steinway have signed her up. I cannot imagine that this will sit easy with the core audience for jazz for whom the music is central and more important that anything else. If it is to serve any purpose, I have always felt that the album covers were there to reinforce the credibility of the music enclosed within. It is nice to see creative album covers as nothing is worse that seeing something which is uninteresting or devoid of creativity. However, my worry would be that this could be the beginning of a slippery slope and labels signing artists on the basis of how good they looked.
Judging my the expression on Ms Han's face, she does not look like she is to be trifled with! Though she be but little, she is fierce.
well, her appearance appears to be the reason for this thread. So what is there left to say? She can play - that's all that counts.
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