Comments on: Drive-By Thursday Reading

By: Matos W.K.

Matos W.K. — Tue, 29 Nov 2005 08:15:41 +0000

That Greil piece isn’t about the reissue; it’s a reprint of his review of the original album, written in 1975.

By: Craig

Craig — Sun, 27 Nov 2005 17:14:07 +0000

Thanks Carl. I generally agree with your positive stance with regard to jazz covering pop. Although one somewhat disconcerting (I hesitate to call it a) phenomenon I have encountered occasionally is that, once a jazz artist has recorded a pop song, there is a tendency among (often younger) jazz musicians to subsequently discount the original version of that song as a frivolous, bone-headed trifle, when compared to the new, sophisticated jazz rendition. For example, at the time when Brad Mehldau was becoming popular for covering “Exit Music (for a Film)” and “Paranoid Android,” I heard a particular jazz drummer say, without a hint of irony, that Mehldau was “making Radiohead listenable again.” Luckily, it doesn’t seem to be a widespread “problem” quite yet.

By: zoilus

zoilus — Sun, 27 Nov 2005 04:18:40 +0000

Hey Craig,

I’ve written a bit about the jazz-covering-pop issue before, and will try to post about it in more depth when I’ve had a chance to listent to that Pavement-covers disc. In quick summary, abstractly I think it’s a very very very very very good thing: It’s exactly how standards became standards in the first place, and I suspect it’s one of jazz’s premiere survival strategies. Hell, even I kind of first started listening to jazz because I found jazz-bands-do-the-Beatles records among my dad’s record collection, which led to being kinda interested in the Dave Brubeck records nearby them. (Reading Kerouac and hearing Tom Waits a couple of years later were probably more significant in making me dig deeper, though.) But of course it depends. “On what” is a question I’ll come back to.

By: lisstless

lisstless — Fri, 25 Nov 2005 15:04:20 +0000

re: “bettye lavette, who totally should have been the cover.”

yes. oh god yes. you have no idea the pain we went through.

By: marco

marco — Fri, 25 Nov 2005 02:54:07 +0000

I’m always impressed by Everett-Green. He seems to have about fifty pieces a week in the paper, on topics ranging from Baroque opera to metal. That guy has breadth. Whereas at The Star, it is many weeks’ travel between Littler territory and Raynorsville.

By: Craig

Craig — Fri, 25 Nov 2005 01:50:58 +0000

Carl, considering how steeped you are in both the popular and jazz scenes, I imagine you have a well-considered take on the whole “pop music by jazz musicians” trend. A penny for your thoughts?