During one of the dry periods for Jazz in the U.S., Phil Woods jumped the Atlantic and fathered a new 4tet which included three non-Americans. He called the group the European Rhythm Machine. From the git-go, the old concept that our European brothers "can't swing" was thrown out with Phil's garbage. Sometime later, a "live" album by another Woods 4tet came from the Orient. The title was "Phil Woods and the Japanese Rhythm Machine." This group consisted of three strong Japanese musicians on piano, bass, and drums - men who were known only in Japan. Phil carefully chose musicians who, although relatively unknown, could "swing there butts off." It did make a damn where they came from.

Having had the privilege of presenting Jazz on public radio for six years, my secondary purpose was to showcase the love-work of musicians who "deserved to be heard." Some of them were from Europe, Scandinavia, and the Far East. These superb musicians often blew away their American counterparts, and I believe they had earned the right to be heard. Included were the MPS Rhythm Combination and Brass, The Blue Coats, the Danish Radio Big Band, The New Herd, the radio big bands in Germany of the WDR, SWF, and NDR, the Sharps and Flats BB, Martial Solal, Ack van Rooyen, Tete Montoliu and many others. They were proof that "our music" had, indeed, become universal. And they also proved the old saying that "Somebody out there may be gaining on you." A lot of somebodies had.

Bob Brookmeyer, the great valve trombonist and composer/arranger, has not only written for the late Mel Lewis' Jazz Orchestra, but has also created charts for the Inner Galaxy Orchestra (Japan) and the Stockholm Jazz Orchestra among many others. The late Thad Jones wrote for several "foreign" big bands including the Danish Radio Big Band, and his own band of Danish nationals called Eclipse.

Bill Holman, another master Jazz composer/arranger, writes for a variety of U.S. ensembles as well as his own L.A. based big band. Bill's charts can be found in the books of the best bands in England, Germany and Scandinavia. And the same can be said for the stunning creations of another U.S. Jazz Master, Bob Florence -- a man many say leads the most vital Jazz Orchestra in the World.

These Jazz Giants have gone beyond our borders in offering their love-work to others who can and do perform their difficult music with apparent ease. All of them accepted writing commissions from sources which were far more aware of their creative abilities than the unappreciative clods here in the States. The two Bobs, Thad, Phil, and Bill enriched the cultures of other nations while our putrid music system sank to a level appreciated by legions of rock-deafened apes.

We have lost Thad to death. I suspect that if the remaining four men were to be frank as to why they jumped our borders to present their ART, the answers would probably be similar -- The Need To Eat. This, too, is an international need.

It's been said that Americans are the inventors of the first throw-away society. Seems to me that the primary problem within our lowest common denominator culture is that we've mastered the art of hoarding trash. We throw away our Treasures.

to be continued...