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Another Robert Johnson Mystery
Below see the semi-decipherable conversation between professor Chalfen and myself vis a vis the mystery of whether the recordings of blues giant Robert Johnson were recorded at the wrong speed and hence play back at a faster speed than they should. This is important because, if true, it implies Mephistopheles may have been less involved than ...
Not Making Enough Money on the Road? Try Selling Underwear...
(#cmj, #musicindustry, #music) If you wanted lots of direct-to-fan tips, there was no better place to be last week than CMJ. But is any of this really healthy for musicians? Showcases have always been a crapshoot, though the daily panels featured endless amounts of 'expert advice' that steered away from the most serious issues affecting musicians ...
"The Institute's New Jazz Typology"
By Steve Provizer ..."why is the Tristano school always shown as a branch of cool jazz? Those guys were hardcore bebop heads. Is it just that they were white and some of them wore glasses so people confuse them with Brubeck?" —Ian Carey Mr. Carey, The Institute is here for you. Our first attempt at typology, ...
Making Music Cheaper Than Coffee Won't Devalue It
People say that if music costs less than a cup of coffee or a bottle of water it will devalue the 'art' of music. Ian S. Port, the SF Weekly music editor, doesn't think so. He contends that fans don't judge the artistic value of music by what it costs. If true, they would look down ...
The Real Reason Why Fans File-Share Music
I believe that there are many different reasons why fans file-share music. Also, I think that the longer music downloading occurs, the more we're not talking about greedy fans, entitlement, and anti-corporate rebellion anymore. This is a decade in the making. It will go on another one after that. However, if the evolution of the online ...
"Ellington on Art and Craft"
By Steve Provizer Duke Ellington said: “The wise players are those that play what they can master." Indeed, a highly controversial thing to say, especially in light of the radical shifts jazz has undergone in the last 60 or so years. Let's say it values the “craft" in jazz more heavily than the “art." Art versus ...
Correspondence, Illustrated: "Isfahan"
Rifftides reader Mike Paulson writes:Looked up this clip on YouTube after watching Scott Robinson play “Isfahan" with Martin Wind at The Seasons the other evening. I am amazed at how timeless this arrangement is. Hard to improve on perfection. Not sure why Duke had to hold the sheet music ...
If Only the Industry Had Licensed Napster. and Other Industry Fairy Tales...
(#musicindustry) If only the labels had licensed Napster, then everything would have been different. How many times have you heard that one before? Well, it's a complete revisionist fantasy, and Jim Griffin and Audiogalaxy just proved it. Because even if ol' Hilary Rosen and the RIAA gang were the most tech-forward visionary, they would have still ...
Horns and Hormones
By Steve Provizer Getting married tends to take a guy out of the blog loop, but like Freddie Kruger, I manage to stay alive for the sequels... I just finished reading “Hotter Than That," sub-titled “The Trumpet, Jazz and American Culture." I might add-"That's Awfully Grandiose For A Book That Slices Off Such A Teeny Tiny ...
Dance Music and the Joys of the No BS! Brass Band
"Jazz is dance music," Wynton Marsalis wrote in program notes earlier this year. “If it doesn't sound good, people won't want to dance to it. And if you can't dance to it, then it's not jazz." The statement, separating jazz and “not jazz," is the kind of shot-across-the-bow that Marsalis delights in lobbing at hostile parties, ...
