Recording Technology

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I'm currently reading a book entitled Capturing Sound: How Technology Has Changed Music, by Mark Katz, and I just finished his chapter "Capturing jazz."

Katz's focus is primarily on what he coins "phonograph effects," that is the way the technology impacted the way the music was made and conceptualized by both musicians and audience.

For example, the physical limitations of early phonograph technology put an upper ceiling on length of recordings, thus necessitating tight arrangements without much room for improvisation. Reports suggest that actual jazz performances included longer improvised sections than on the recordings, which only allowed for short choruses by each improviser.

Other examples of the early phonograph effect include dynamic limitations that didn't allow for accurate recording of drums, especially bass drums.

Katz also touches upon the central role recordings have played in jazz pedagogy, and the huge effect the recordings have had on the ability of jazz to spread past the urban centers in which it was originally practiced.

In the links roundup, the improvising guitarist has a post up continuing the discussions about jazz and race, adding some thoughtful and cogent ideas to the discourse. Matana Roberts put another new post up on Saturday continuing her personal narrative on the matter. There's a new book about about ECM available, which I will most certainly pick up (as a related aside, Pat notes ECM's skills in recording the piano). Another new book that piqued my interest is Jazz Consciousness by Paul Austerlitz, as I read a review in the most recent Ethnomusicology journal.

Darcey has a post up where he reflects on some of the questions I posed about recording jazz and reasons why the rock DIY aesthetic/ethic has not caught on amongst jazz artists, making some great points.

Of course, as soon as I put up that post, I got to the chapter in the book I'm reading, "Capturing Sound: How Technology Has Changed Music," that deals specifically with recording jazz. Needless to say I will report back after the chapter has been read and reflected upon.

I just got two new recordings to listen to. One is Inner Constellation Volume One on Nemu Records by the Bruce Eisenbeil Sextet, featuring Mr. Eisenbell (whom I've never heard), Jean Cook, Nate Wooley, Aaron Ali Shaikh, Tom Abbs and Nasheet Waits.

The second is the Delmark rerelease of an early AACM recording, Joseph Jarman's "As If It Were The Seasons," featuring Jarman, Charles Clark, Thurman Barker, Sherri Scott, Muhal Richard Abrams, Joel Brandon, Fred Anderson, John Stubblefield, John Jackson, and Lester Lashley. It says it's been remixed and remastered from the original master tapes but I can't see from the CD itself when the original recording takes place (EDIT: further research shows it was 1968).

Looking forward to listening to both of them and reporting back.