Enjoyed that track!
The notion of Trad v Modern never had any legs for the simple fact that the "new" quickly became the "old." Even in the heyday of Bop, there were so many musicians that straddle idioms such as Coleman Hawkins, that the notion was never correct. I can understand people feeling that there was a polar divide in the early fifties but the same people probably failed to recognise that the divide was no-less great with what how developed in the 60's when the gulf with the boppers became even greater in my opinion.
Despite the above, I have to argue with the any defence on Trevor's behalf. He was the ultimate pub bore and whilst I applaud his loyalty to some musicians like Pay Smythe who desired greatest recognition, it is also worthwhile that he also championed the likes of Allen Eager who probably did not merit the purple prose written about him. Also worth noting that Trevor was critical of musicians like Alan Barnes or guy Barker who investigated styles more in the jazz tradition whilst lauding the likes of Steve Waterman for the same thing! I never felt he was consistent. He also tended to make reference to the likes of Cliff Richard which seemed to be prompted by his own hysteria and had nothing to do with the world of jazz. In fact, he seemed totally divorced to what the current jazz scene was about and unaware of almost everything that was going on across the Atlantic. As for contemporary jazz, he had no interest beyond Be-bop and even the likes of 'Trane and later Miles were well beyond him. The most intriguing thing i found was that despite his obvious passion, he seldom if ever went to hear live gigs and most of the concerts he mentioned attending must have been in the 50's and 60's. For me, Trevor wasn't a jazz fan, but a fan of jazz records. Glad to see the back of him.
The notion of Trad v Modern never had any legs for the simple fact that the "new" quickly became the "old." Even in the heyday of Bop, there were so many musicians that straddle idioms such as Coleman Hawkins, that the notion was never correct. I can understand people feeling that there was a polar divide in the early fifties but the same people probably failed to recognise that the divide was no-less great with what how developed in the 60's when the gulf with the boppers became even greater in my opinion.
Despite the above, I have to argue with the any defence on Trevor's behalf. He was the ultimate pub bore and whilst I applaud his loyalty to some musicians like Pay Smythe who desired greatest recognition, it is also worthwhile that he also championed the likes of Allen Eager who probably did not merit the purple prose written about him. Also worth noting that Trevor was critical of musicians like Alan Barnes or guy Barker who investigated styles more in the jazz tradition whilst lauding the likes of Steve Waterman for the same thing! I never felt he was consistent. He also tended to make reference to the likes of Cliff Richard which seemed to be prompted by his own hysteria and had nothing to do with the world of jazz. In fact, he seemed totally divorced to what the current jazz scene was about and unaware of almost everything that was going on across the Atlantic. As for contemporary jazz, he had no interest beyond Be-bop and even the likes of 'Trane and later Miles were well beyond him. The most intriguing thing i found was that despite his obvious passion, he seldom if ever went to hear live gigs and most of the concerts he mentioned attending must have been in the 50's and 60's. For me, Trevor wasn't a jazz fan, but a fan of jazz records. Glad to see the back of him.
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