Ken Clarke's Jazz Greats~Lee Morgan

[Jazzrook]

Did anyone else have the misfortune to hear this Radio 4 programme on Lee Morgan? Toe-curling stuff. What qualifications does Ken Clarke have to present a jazz programme?

[amateur51]

I like jazz but don't know much about it but I'm glad you said that. His enthusiasm seemed very superficial and ... naff.

David Mellor is allowed to spout about classical music too. A depressing trend when there are so many good professional broadcasters who know their stuff cast adrift by radio over the years

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

missed the programme

whereof ... thereof ... etc

[Jazzrook]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0092tqq

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

having listened must say found it quite acceptable, ken likes his jazz, sounds just as he always does and has a partner to fire off ... next up is Zoot

[PUSB]

He seems like the best of the Tories (not hard) but he is rubbish at jazz programmes.

[Serial_Apologist]

HUSH, my dear puppies...

[barber olly]

I like jazz but don't know much about it but I'm glad you said that. His enthusiasm seemed very superficial and ... naff.

David Mellor is allowed to spout about classical music too. A depressing trend when there are so many good professional broadcasters who know their stuff cast adrift by radio over the years

Agreed am51, choice of presenters on R2 and R3 have shown the BBC suits to put knowledge of music and presenting experience low on the list of their selection criteria and celebrity status high on the list. Look at the presnting styles of the two presenters of Ao3 over the last 2 or 3 weeks and ask yourself which is preferable?

[hackneyvi]

Did anyone else have the misfortune to hear this Radio 4 programme on Lee Morgan? Toe-curling stuff. What qualifications does Ken Clarke have to present a jazz programme?

I thought Ken had been doing these shows for several years?

[Serial_Apologist]

Is this a repeat?

Funny, it says here in my RT "Today in Parliament"

I've never seen or met Ken Clarke at any gig in London. There again, I never do Ronnie's. Isn't that where jazz-lovin' parliamentarians and their interns go for the music? Can they claim expenses there, anyone know? There's nothing wrong with a jazz loving Tory; if I ever met one at a gig I would imagine a combo of good music, good and conviviality could claim a few faux pas in the how-would-you-describe-a-jazz-musician-known-to-have-taken-drugs department.

(PS - Blimey - how do you stop the iPlayer thingy once it gets going?)

[BLUESNIK'S REVOX]

J.Rook..."Toe-curling stuff. What qualifications does Ken Clarke have to present a jazz programme?"

He a fading Tory MP/now Short term minister looking to demonstrate his "hinterland" as a future career and the BBC kiss his FAT butt (as always)... think Portillo.

Fkg awful (its ALWAYS the SHOCKING drugs with Ken) program and to who is it directed? ...music examples too short to interest those truly interested and those passing (in the R4 must have ABC demographic) must be totally confused. WTF?

Does Alyn Shipton still "produce" this junk?

BN.

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

it is on r4 .... publicity innit ....

if it was on R3 i'd have a fit mind you but on R4 it is ok ....

[handsomefortune]

publicity innit ....

yes tis - for ken mainly.

ken's been to ronnies, there's proof: him sitting at a checked table cloth, supping booze, back in 1977 (aprox).

so, therefore kenneth's the man to introduce new audiences to players who've devoted their lives to playing jazz.

[BLUESNIK'S REVOX]

"...new (R4) audiences to players who've devoted their lives to playing jazz."

The Archers demographic really get off on tales of jazz junkies (Who didn't read the Daily Mail!)

What gets me with Ken Clarke is his almost "noble savage" narrative re black musicians...clueless as to social context and close to offensive in Morgan's case.

BN.

[Ian Thumwood]

Bluesnik

I've only ever heard a couple of Clarke's programmes and didn't think that his comments offered much insight. However I do feel obliged to defend the fact that a 30-minute resume of a musician's career is almost impossible to achieve satisfactorily, especially if there is a guest as was the case in the programmes which I heard. But simplistically, the talking will increase two-fold as a consequence. It is also worth bearing in mind that any post-78 rpm era jazz is not ideally suited to this format. With someone like Morgan, there are difficult choices to make. The REAL music is within the solos' which don't make sense without familiarity with the head. In Morgan's example, he wrote some memorabe themes but isn't a musician I woulld consider to have been a composer of stature like Wayne Shorter, for example.

With most of the subjects of these programmes, the musicians all seemed to fall in the 1945-65 period and much of the analysis offered by Clarke showed little insight and understanding of the musician in question. But the task is definately too great to achieve in a half hour time frame as the music must be limited to samples where the music will be heard out of context. You also need to consider that Radio 4 is not a music station and therefore detailed musical analysis is therefore out of the question. In these situations, the music must be seen in a historical context and maybe in this resepct, the format of the much missed "Jazz File" could serve as a template.

The problem I have with Clarke is the lack of understanding of what the music is about and his failure to actually shut up and listen to what his guest is saying. i.e. He is not media friendly from this respect and I did get extremely annoyed with his contast interjections. I would also have to say that his choice of subjects have not been too original or inspired and agree that anyone familiar with the music already will get almost nothing from the experience. I would suggest that this is not really the point of the programmes which are there to entice non-jazz followers to take an interest in the music.

In conclusion, a 30 min programme is too ambitious to cover all the bases and irrespective of Clarke's ability as a fount of jazz knowledge, I feel he has a difficult task in creating something that will appeal to jazz purests in such a tight schedule. At least we can be thankful that a certain crashing bore from Cornwall familiar to us isn't presenting the programme!