http://ilx.p3r.net/thread.php?msgid=4940706
Quite a lot of people griping about The Wire here, particularly about them having Derek Bailey on the cover. My favourite comment came from Dave Stelfox who pointed out that it needn't be the mirror image of ILM/YourBlogspot to be a worthwhile entity. I am at sea with the rest of you when it comes to the broad sweep of their coverage. However, I thought Keenan's Derek Bailey article was great. Bailey comes across as a tremendous character; never mind opinions of his music:
"The original be-bop was all over the fucking place. They were always falling off a precipice. You didn't get that in Hard Bop, everyone knew what they were doing. With every music there is an exciting period when it's coming together and no-one has a clue what it's supposed to sound like. That's when it's happeneing. And it's authentic. The only way you can get through stuff is to do it. Once you've learned everything it's over."
That's super insight isn't it. And really applicable to the sceniuses of dance music. It's interesting to note that Bailey thinks Improv is officially over "so codfied and defined that it's effectively neutered." I'm quite impressed that Bailey is dedicated to collective playing too, he's apparently not that bothered who he jams with either as long as they can play their instrument. That runs counter to the high-snob ethos I've encountered in Improv. Bailey's idealogical rift with Evan Parker seemed to founder on EP's increasing reluctance to play with others.
And I liked this:
"Bailey is notoriously opposed to saxaphones and saxaophonists. "You cannot play a saxaphone and make it not sound like jazz," he insists "You simply cannot do it. The guy who has come nearest to it was Anthony Braxton."
Yes, and further, it's difficult to make the saxaphone sound anything else than deeply dreadful. If I was doing a list to match Jess's _your favourite sounds in music_ entitled _sounds you loathe in music_ http://shutyrgob.blogspot.com/2004_08_01_shutyrgob_archive.html#109222635758908172 then I'd put the saxaphone at the top. From "Baker Street", Madness, X-Ray Spex, The Red Crayola and Eurythmics to 95% of Jazz recordings it's a rubbish instrument in most people's hands. I have that key Braxton record "For Alto" somewhere, looked for it forever, and his is indeed an atypical sound.
And again Bailey on Drum and Bass (Was this article a covert stab at Reynolds I ask myself ?!?), particularly on the slightly tepid rhythmic backdrop to his "Guitar, Drums 'N' Bass" record:
"I would have preferred it if it had been much livelier. Where I live in Hackney is where one branch of Drum and Bass, when the called it Jungle came up. They had the loudest stations on my FM band, completely illegal, but they were just down the street from me. So I said to Zorn, "Listen to this shit" how do you fancy a record?".....He'd never heard it so I sent him a copy of some of the stuff that I'd taped off the station and he said, Fine. I said "I'll use these local guys from the radio." And he said, "No you can't, you have to get someone we can hire. I don't know why. The kids down the street were playing some fantastic shit. Very exciting. I used to practise with it. That's how I got into it."
Aaah isn't that so sweet! In his late sixties and still rocking the FM dial! Interesting to note that he WANTED to go with the real thing not the lame copy by Brum's DJ Ninj. Actually I think Bailey might have been under the impression that the guys on the radio were spinning their own dubplates, which can only have partially been the case.
And he's always swearing! Fuck, fuck, fuck, fucking, fuck. Aah, now I feel much better. Think I may pick up that "Ballads" CD. Listened to it when it came out and really liked it, but now I feel I should own a copy.
Posted by Woebot at August 30, 2004 08:41 AM