"They [the critics] want the music played by people who don't know what they're doing but are on the cutting edge of something...they like the idea of jazz being outsiders music." Shooting From the Hip/John Fordham (Quote:1994)

When disagreed with Marsalis has proved to be venomous:

"...the whole philosophy put out there by Jazz writers is so unintelligent, and it's so destructive..."

And:

"...the critical community in jazz is corrupt." Both quotes Achievement ORG Interview 1991

The critics are not interested in what he considers the fundamentals of the music:

"...You can't develop jazz by not playing it, not swinging or playing the blues. Today's jazz criticism celebrates as innovation forms of music that don't address the fundamentals of the music." SSBOTR (Sweet Swing Blues on the Road) p141

So Marsalis has one view of the music and the critics (who he hates) have another - and he conceives this as a struggle for power:

"I think it's all about power - the power to define what the music is...They (the critics) don't want to see the music defined along lines different from the way they have defined it." Chicago Tribune 30/10/1994

So when Burns says "Marsalis...taught us so much about the music", it indicates that he has allowed Marsalis's ideas about the music to inform his own. The words "so much" suggest this was a particularly strong influence. Marsalis declared himself quietly satisfied with the results:

"We had a few differences, and I wouldn't have done everything exactly the way [Burns] did, but it all comes back to the fact that he's the filmmaker." Marsalis Interview with Don Heckman Los Angeles Times 2000

Given how venomous Marsalis can be when people have opposed his views on jazz, one would say that Burns' series does indeed reflect his ideas - perhaps rather strongly. And, in fact, Burns says Marsalis is the "backbone" of the series:

"I met Wynton after a speech I gave at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1991,'' said Mr. Burns. ''It was a meeting of the minds. Later, when he heard that I was doing a documentary on jazz, he told me, 'I'll do anything you need.' In one way he's the backbone of the film.'' Peter Watrous New York Times October 1, 2000

[II]

To determine what this way is - how Marsalis is the backbone of the film - we will have to look at the trumpeter's ideas. But there is a complicating factor in this - He is not an original thinker. Marsalis has his ideas very largely from two men, Stanley Crouch and Albert Murray. In many cases it is really only possible to demonstrate the meaning of Marsalis's statements by referring to texts or quotes from these two men - And that's what I want to do. My contention is that it is the ideas put forward by this triumvirate that is at the core of the film. But first, here are some quotes from Marsalis about Crouch and Murray:

[Q] Where did you get your higher education?

[Marsalis] Well, I am always trying to study, and when I came to New York, I was fortunate to meet Stanley Crouch, who is a writer. He had tremendous influence on me intellectually, because he had like a million books in his apartment, and a thousand records. So when I met him and saw all the records and book and stuff, and he didn't graduate from college either, he just voaraciously read stuff. Every time I'd see him, he'd be talking about, hey, check this book out. And I didn't know any of that stuff, and I felt stupid when I was around him. And he knew more about the music than I did. I was 17 or 18, and he'd be saying well what about this record? Him and also Albert Murray who was Stanley Crouch's mentor. Albert Murray has written one of the greatest books on jazz, Stomping the Blues, which is on blues, but is one of the greatest books written about the poetics of jazz music, what the musician should be trying to do.

And from having the opportunity to be around Stanley and Albert Murray, Stanley much more than Albert Murray, because I'm always embarrassed to be around him, because he knows so much I always feel I'm just in the way. But it really made me develop my intellectual curiosity and Al Murray would give me books to read...I talk to Stanley almost every day...

[Q] What has been difficult for you?

[Marsalis]...there are a lot of things that are difficult. Like growing up in the environment I grew up in was difficult. Dealing with the type of intellectual isolation that I had to deal with.

Nobody much was into that. So thank God for Crouch. But he's 45, you know. I love him, he's my best friend in the world. He's like a mentor to me, I'm not really equipped to discuss a lot of stuff with him on his level. He's not 29. I've never had a real true camaderie with my peer group like I would want to have. Achievement.Org Interview 1991

[Q] You've had some great musical figures you've learnt from - Art Blakey and your father (pianist Ellis Marsalis) in particular. How do you feel that they've illuminated to you things about improvisation and presentation?

[Marsalis] Well, first they made me understand the seriousness of learning how to play. They would always put the music in a context, a human context. Other than that (they would) make you understand how the music relates to life. And actually the man who really and truly was my mentor in that way was Albert Murray, who's a writer in New York. And his whole thing is always understand the meaning of what you're doing. He always deals with understanding the meaning of things. All About Jazz Interview Feb 1992

This particular day is special because of the presence of Mr. Albert Murray. Mr. Murray knows a little bit about everything and a lot about a lot. He loves knowledge, swing, and excellence. Whenever we see him we feel good, 'cause swing is in the house. Extension, elaboration, and refinement, that's Mr. Murray's definition of the artistic process. If you can talk to him for two seconds, you'll learn something useful. He can cook some chitlins too.

I was introduced to Mr. Murray by Stanley Crouch. Crouch is a writer and intellectual of the first magnitude. He developed my hunger to understand the arts. He reminds me of men in the barbershop when I was growing up, except that he is infinitely more accurate in his assessments. He has tremendous integrity and courage. It was surprising to meet someone with such intellectual acumen who wasn't corny, and who would hang his foot in someone's ass if provoked. I talk to Crouch almost every day. I'll be forever grateful for all the stuff he has taught me.

Crouch loves him some Al. When I first met Crouch in 1980, all he would talk about was Al, Al. After he took me to Mr. Murray's house, I could see why. First Mr. Murray has 10 million books and can pull from the shelves at will with exact page numbers to support his angle on any discussion. It could be the Civil War, William Faulkner, mythology, physics, you name it. For the first three or four years of being around Crouch and him, I just nodded my head and added a foggy "Mm-hmm" to conversations on issues I didn't know anything about. That was most of the time.

Mr. Murray wrote the book on the blues, Stomping the Blues. Being around Mr. Murray teaches you what fifty years of sustained engagement with American culture yields. He is one of the greatest men in the United States, and in everything I do I want to make him proud. His wife, Mozelle, fixes the best fruitcake in New York City, and if you're ever on 132 Street maybe you can get some, too. I put my hat on this morning out of respect for Mr. Murray. Before we leave, he tells me, "Keep swinging." I can tell that he is proud. Sweet Swing Blues on the Road/ Marsalis p116-7 1994

"From Albert Murray, I learned to envision things on a grand scale." Wynton Marsalis/Gourse p110

Marsalis's knowledge of "what jazz is" has been determined through the intervention of Crouch and Murray who have been mentoring Marsalis since 1980 when he was 17 or 18. So much in thrall to them was the trumpeter that even 11 years later, aged 29, he still did not feel "really equipped to discuss a lot of stuff" with Crouch - and declared himself "embarrassed to be around" Murray (whom he met in 1982). That is after 10+ formative years he was unable to be distance himself from these men. That appears to be the position also today. And the fact is no-one else has been allowed to form Marsalis's ideas in any sort of comparable way. He has not been to College for example.

[III]

In 1991, Marsalis was already presenting himself in public as an oracular knower of the value of jazz. His public views have not changed in any substantive way. What this means, I contend, is that his statements represent an extension of Crouch and Murray's ideas. For, at that point, he felt intellectually insignificant beside these two men - His certainty reflects his absolute belief and trust in their ideas rather than a position arrived at on the basis of independent thought. But it also reflects his intellectual inadequacy. He was - and remains - intellectually dependent on his mentors. Here's a representative quote:

"In terms of illuminating the meaning of America...jazz is the primary art form, especially New Orleans jazz. Because when it's played properly, it shows you how the individual can negotiate the greatest amount of personal freedom and put it humbly at the service of the a group conception." Time 22/10/1990

Marsalis conceives as jazz as some sort of model for America. Somehow this has to do with balancing freedom within a group - i.e communal - context. The next quote gives the group context. It is democracy:

"As long as there is democracy, there will be people wanting to play jazz
because nothing else will ever so perfectly capture the democratic process in
sound. Jazz means working things out musically with other people. You have to
listen to other musicians and play with them even if you don't agree with what
they're playing. It teaches you the very opposite of racism and anti-Semitism.
It teaches you that the world is big enough to accommodate us all."
--Wynton Marsalis, quoted by Joan Smith, "Wynton Blows His Horn ForJazz", "San Francisco Examiner and Chronicle", Dec. 18, 1994, p. C-17

This is what Marsalis's idea of jazz basically is. It is a model for democracy. He thinks that if one plays jazz, it will allow people to see how to be more democratic - by following the template in jazz. He conceives this in somewhat exalted terms - as spiritual technology to help society come to terms with itself:

"...that's what the job of an artist is in society - to make it better by providing it with the spiritual technology to come to terms with itself. I really love this band, man: I'm happy just to be out on the road with these guys." [1989] Blues up and Down/Piazza

Once more conceiving jazz in exalted terms - this time as a mythic representation of America - Marsalis asserts that America has lost its identity in the following quote. This is because jazz, which illuminates the meaning of America, has not been addressed properly:

"The principle of American democracy is that you have freedom, the question is: How will you use it? Which is also the central question in jazz. And in democracy and in jazz you have freedom with restraint. It's not absolute freedom, it's freedom within a structure.

The connection between jazz and the American experience is profound. Believe me, that's why the fact that it has not been addressed has resulted in our losing a large portion of our identity as Americans. Because the artform that really gives us a mythic representation of our society has not been taught to the public." American Heritage Oct 1995

So what's at stake here is American identity. Jazz carries American identity within it. It is American democracy live on stage. It's not being taught properly and Americans are losing their way. The implication is that, if it were taught properly, America would in some way refind its identity - which is asserted to be largely lost. Would, in these terms be saved. This is what Albert Murray was getting at when he said:

"Today, America's only possible hope is that the Negroes might save us, which is all we're trying to do," Murray recently told the New Yorker. "We've got Louis, Duke, Count, and Ralph [Ellison], and now we're trying to do it with Wynton [Marsalis] and Stanley [Crouch]. That's all we are - just a bunch of Negroes trying to save America." Conversations with Albert Murray p96-7 1996

[IV]

Despite a jazz-fan father, Burns "had perhaps two jazz records in [his] fairly large collection" before starting the series. He basically was uninterested in it until he decided to make the series. What that suggests is that he actually needed to want to do a film on it before it became interesting. He asserts that all his films have been about finding "who we [Americans] are" - and it seems to me that it was only once he decided that jazz lent itself to that that he became interested. Indeed, Burns' reply to the Amazon.com question "Why he chose Jazz [to do a documentary]?", was:

"I don't really choose my topics. They choose me. And there was a developing, overwhelming, sense that this music was our music, America's music. And I've been curious about how my country works - what the dynamics of America are. In fact I suppose you could say that every film I've made answers or tries to answer one deceptively simple question: "Who are we?" And I felt that jazz music went to the heart of who we are as a people."

As we saw above, the Marsalis view is that jazz is the primary form for illuminating the meaning of America. This is essentially the same as Burns's view. Other Burns statements about the significant ideas informing his series also parallel Marsalis' ideas. Thus, Marsalis' view is that jazz doesn't just tell Americans who they are, it can - as a model of American democracy - save America. This is Burns's view also. Given that he will not have thought about Jazz specifically before starting the series, I suggest that his view comes from Marsalis and his mentors - that that is one specific way he has taught Burns "so much".

Here's Burns on how the series fits in with the rest of his work: "I've been working in two parallel tracks. One has been a trilogy of three major series -- Civil War, Baseball and Jazz. The Civil War defined us [as a country]. Baseball was a way to tell us what we'd become, that is to say, how we were defined. And Jazz is about a redemptive possibility for this democracy, I think, at its very heart and soul."

To say that Jazz is the redemptive possibility for American democracy is to say it can save it. And, in an 2000 interview, with Don Heckman of the Los Angeles Times, Burns once more says that jazz " was also a vision of the redemptive future possibilities of our republic."

" Because embedded in the message of jazz is a finely tuned constitution at work: all
people listening, incorporating, dealing with the question of the individual
as well as the collective. And you have essentially in jazz a model of what
we might become when we live out, as Dr. [Martin Luther] King [Jr.] would
say, the true meaning of our creed."

Jazz is "a model of what we [America] might become when we live out, as Dr. [Martin Luther] King [Jr.] would say, the true meaning of our creed." That is, for Burns, it "points as a model of democracy to where we might go when we become who we say we are." Moreover, jazz has a *redemptive* quality: "Jazz is about a redemptive possibility for this democracy, I think, at its very heart and soul."

In fact Burns has been saying the same thing over and over again. For example:

November 21, 2000 Barnes & Noble.com chat
Jennifer from B&N.com: You have said that you see jazz as a window into "the redemptive future promise" of the United States. What about this form of music makes it so transcendent and important?

KB: In the beginning, it reflects back to us a truth about who we are and, I believe, what we might become. Jazz is the purest expression of democratic possibilities, and so embedded in my history of this music is the future promise of a world free of racial discrimination, free of sexual discrimination, in which everyone is judged on the content of their character and not on the color of their skin, as Dr. King said.

So, finally, a couple of statements from the Amazon.com interview:

Jazz and American Life
Jazz...points as a model of democracy to where we might go when we become who we say we are.

Why he chose Jazz
We've come to see it...in a way a model of who we might be when, as Dr. King said, we live out the meaning of our creed. So in jazz is embedded...in some ways our [America's] promise as a country.

The idea of jazz as "a model for democracy" is recognisably the same as Marsalis's view. While the idea that "in jazz is embedded...in some ways our [America's] promise as a country" echoes a quote from Marsalis that appears in the last paragraph of the Burns' book:

"...[jazz] gives us a glimpse of what America is going to be when it becomes itself.

So Burns has taken on board Marsalis's central ideas about Jazz. I want, in the rest of the essay, to outline the philosophical underpinning for these ideas. That will involve trying to explain what Murray, Marsalis and Crouch think "blues" and "swing" are. For these words do not mean what one would expect them to. Rather they reflect a particular world-view. In the process I believe I will demonstrate that their idea of jazz, rooted in this world-view, is a questionable model for democracy.

Read Simon's article: The Lincoln Center Democratic Jazz Aesthetic vs Anarchy