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By Walter Price
This summer I went across this great country of ours to get the pulse of the
nation. I wanted to hear from jazz fans and non-jazz fans from all over the
country to get feedback for this column. I meticulously gathered and
collected answers to questions jazz fans in general want to know. So here it
is, my first cross-country pulse of the nation state of jazz survey. All I
can say is that some of these results will be encouraging to jazz fans while
others will be quite disturbing. [Note: some of the answers to the survey
was gathered orally so I had to write them down later in pencil from memory
and maybe I didn't go cross country physically to gather a good sampling of
answers; maybe I went cross country in my mind. So please take that in
consideration when you read some of these results!]
- 9 in 10 people stated they bought the new Headhunters CD just because of the
cool cover.
- 7 in 10 go see Herbie Hancock play in concert to hear him play "Rockit."
- 10 in 10 went to see the Count Basie Orchestra the past year to see Count
Basie.
- 9 in 10 wake up in the middle of the night disturbed and agitated because they
hear that world record note by Kenny G. playing in their eardrums.
- 10 in 10 believe that Kenny G. is still holding that note.
- 9 in 10 believe Swing is the greatest thing that has happened to jazz in the
past 10 years.
- 10 in 10 believe Swing is a fad interest that will fade in 1 or 2 years.
- 2 in 10 believe there is a jazz radio station in their town.
- 8 in 10 believe jazz radio played in the car while driving is the number one
cause of drowsiness and sleepiness that results in major car accidents and
fatalities every year.
- 1 in 10 have seen the BET jazz channel.
- 3 in 10 have seen a UFO.
- 5 in 10 believe Charles Mingus is the guy who played the Chinese caricature
detective Charlie Chan.
- 9 in 10 say that Astrud Gilberto sounds just like a woman.
- 6 in 10 believe free jazz means you don't have to play that well.
- 10 in 10 beginning trumpet players said they started playing by "puffing out
their cheeks."
- 5 in 10 believe Louis Armstrong never played the trumpet.
- 1 in 10 believe Sun Ra's real name was Herman.
- 9 in 10 can't tell a difference between the alternate takes and originally
released takes on jazz CDs.
- 7 in 10 believe Wynton Marsalis was almost electrocuted by accident when he
was a small lad.
- 9 in 10 believe Dexter Gordon was acting in the movie 'Round Midnight.
- 10 in 10 secretly hope Charles Manson will get out on parole to become John
Tesh's "number 1 fan."
Let me take this time out to say thanks for all the e-mails and comments I
have received. I have received many positive comments, but I enjoy the
negative comments just as much. Remember; let's keep AAJ as an open dialogue
for various opinions from all jazz fans. Nobody should have a monopoly on
opinions.
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