Avant Shorter

An interesting discussion has emerged out of the Destination: Out 1990s polls, based on the observations and comments of Mr. Ethan Iverson at Do The Math.

Mr. Iverson posted a blindfold test, which I unfortunately didn't take the time to participate in (based on the results of what the tracks turned out to be, I think I would have done poorly in any case), and then some musings on the 1990s and the D:O poll. One particular thread that emerged was in relation to Wayne Shorter, his artistic legitimacy as viewed by the so-called avant-garde, and in turn, David S. Ware's positioning in the whole mess.

Destination: Out responded with a post of their own.

I love Wayne Shorter, his music, his playing, and his aesthetic in the way he put his groups together. The Blues Note releases as well as the current quartet, which I was excited to see will be playing in 2008 at the Symphony Center here in Chicago.

Honestly, I've never particularly cared for David S. Ware or his quartet , with his recent Balladware piquing my attention the most. I've enjoyed all of the musicians in his band in other contexts, especially William Parker. For any apparent avant leanings I may have, and I certainly have some, I know what I enjoy listening to, and it has nothing to do with any jazz party affiliations. I regularly spin all flavors of jazz and improvised music.

Matthew Shipp is obviously prone to hyperbole, and it's too bad that he said any band is infinitely superior to Wayne Shorter's current band. Personally, I choose not to read too much into his statement for feelings about Wayne and his contribution to the music, since it's one quote in the context of an interview that we only heard a snippet of in the Village Voice article. I don't think conversations like that are worth having, questions of value and superiority. I hate hearing about musicians putting other musicians down in almost any context. I'm kind of a softy like that.

I don't like referring to Matthew Shipp as an avant pianist. I've heard him do so much more than that word can possibly imply. I don't think of Wayne Shorter as mainstream. He was probably avant-garde at some point, if there is such a thing.

I actually think they both have a lot in common, in that neither seems to care what people think of their music and their stylistic choices. Wayne decided to do Weather Report, accusations of "selling out" be damned, and when he was good and ready, he went back to the acoustic setting without apologies. Shipp's Blue Series at Thirsty Ear has taken some serious stylistic chances,  and some have failed while others have succeeded.

I find the whole question of the existence of the avant-garde in jazz baffling. All I see is a spectrum of improvised music, and a continued broadening of musical practices over time. A continued incorporation of more influences. I can't quite figure out where, or more importantly why, I'm supposed to draw the line.

I'm rambling, so I apologize for a lack of coherent structure in this post. I haven't had much time to flesh out ideas recently, so taking this post in an entirely different direction....

I had the pleasure of speaking with Douglas Ewart the other day, and we were talking about arts funding. He was pointing out that the US government spends less than a dollar per citizen on the arts, in terms of NEA funds.

Did you know a B-2 stealth bomber costs 2.2 billion dollars to produce?

Mr. Ewart said he challenged the US government to invest the cost of one B-2 stealth bomber into the arts for one year as an experiment and see what happens.

I think that's a great idea.

More soon....