The Death of Evolution – Straight Ahead
A few days ago, I was checking my newsfeed on my Facebook page, when I stumbled across a posting from musician and composer Christopher McBride. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting him on several occasions. Christopher is a young and talented alto saxophone player who released an album a year or so ago called Quatuor De Force. (Available for sale at CDBaby.com) It’s has primarily new music, written and arranged by Christopher himself, with the exception of two songs. (I’m ashamed to admit that I didn’t get around to listening to the full album until a few weeks ago. Hey, cut me some slack! I’ve been really busy.!) It is lively and exciting music. Fresh and innovative in it’s delivery. It’s music that you can groove to. There’s nothing wrong with that, right?
What was most troubling about his post was what seemingly happened, when he tried to line up gigs at “jazz clubs”. Some of the owners told him that his music wasn’t “straight ahead enough”. Really? What did they mean by that? Immediately, most of his colleagues and friends quickly came to his aid, reminding him that his album is very good (which it is) and he needn’t worry about what those misguided souls were saying.
But this conversation made me think harder about what it really represented. Sure, Quatuor De Force is certainly not the most formal jazz composition, but really, it’s exceptional music that I know any crowd would find very entertaining. If you’ve ever heard Christopher play, you know that he can swing. So what’s the deal with the “straight ahead” label? Why can’t jazz be allowed to evolve?
Earlier in the year, I listened to a live interview with Robert Glasper. The discussion was free-ranging (and at times very disorganized) but it did touch on this very issue. His album Black Radio took home a Grammy two years ago. Glasper is considered to be a trained jazz musician, but one could easily argue that Black Radio was not jazz. (He’s currently on tour with R&B singer Ledisi) In fact, I did just so. Please see the review below.
http://sjeblog.wordpress.com/2012/04/19/experimentation-for-meditation-robert-glaspers-experiment/
During the interview, Glasper argued, “Jazz has not been allowed to evolve.” He went on to speak about how the genre is stuck in particular era of time, and anything outside of that isn’t considered "jazz" or not "jazz enough". Sadly, I think he’s absolutely right.
There is nothing wrong with paying homage to the standards. And there is certainly nothing wrong with appreciating the sensibilities and care that went into creating those timeless originals. However, it is quite silly to ask an artist to be creative, yet criticize them when they don’t fit the proverbial mold. Sure, we all want to judge how far the pendulum swings, however, that’s precisely the point. If the music is good, why not let the audience decide? Personally, I think the idea of “straight ahead jazz” is a horrible categorization, which limits people and their perception of the music. Why try so hard to define a genre that has always evolved? Perhaps that is one of the greatest difficulties with jazz today. Its growth has been stunted. Without growth there is even less progress and creativity.
