this is not 'new' jazz, just old jazz. But it might as well be, given what a lot of hyped new jazz is today . < quickly hides under chair>
No different to how its always been I suppose - just the modern equivalent of companies visiting radio stations or DJs to get their records played.
What's the point of music if nobody listens to it and talks about it? It would just remain, like it is for many of us, playing for personal enjoyment.
Totally agree, but wonder if we always get to heat the best stuff if it depends on publicity. Do we hear the best music or the music with the best publicists?
I need to track down a jazz John Peel!
this is not 'new' jazz, just old jazz. But it might as well be, given what a lot of hyped new jazz is today . < quickly hides under chair>
I need to track down a jazz John Peel! The end of year polls, especially the Jazz Critics one, are the nearest I get to that.
Very much enjoying this new release by Ill Considered:
https://illconsidered.bandcamp.com/album/liminal-space
They've brought out a number of digital albums in a relatively short period, mostly improvised. This is more structured, and all the better for it.
This was from Tom Hull reflecting in compiling the Jazz Critics in the end of year poll:
"This brings me to the biggest reservation I have about polls: their tendency to measure access and not just quality. [...] After 20 years of watching how publicity works I can illustrate this with dozens of examples. It’s no accident that Blue Note managed to place five albums in the top 25 — they do that nearly every year (yet almost never land an album on my A-list) — or that Pi punches way above its weight (four of the six albums they released in the top 32; two on my A-list, so one of the PR tricks they don’t miss is putting out strikingly good records).
You might object that the last three Polls have been won by less established, even tinier labels. [...] labels have gone beyond “self-released” status, building on networks of compatible musicians, but they’re also helped significantly by independent publicists (Matt Merewitz for TAO Forms, and Ann Braithwaite for Pyroclastic)."
The full piece is here
Behind the 2021 Jazz Critics Poll - A Tool for the Times - The Arts Fuse
After reading this I reflected on why I hear what I hear and buy what I buy. Pfm has obviously been an influence but I then wondered how forum members have heard about the records we share - it seems to be in part linked to what we hear about through publicity and hype - or e mail updates we've signed up to. I also wondered if there something a bit "little England" and parochial about the excitement we share around new British releases ( or reissues) which in the wider scheme of things are sometimes possibly just a tad ordinary.
No different to how its always been I suppose - just the modern equivalent of companies visiting radio stations or DJs to get their records played.
Try Gilles Peterson on Radio 6. Often listen to him on Saturday afternoons. Really interesting and loads of great new music. He is Mr Brownswood.
Try Gilles Peterson on Radio 6. Often listen to him on Saturday afternoons. Really interesting and loads of great new music. He is Mr Brownswood.
but wonder if we always get to hear the best stuff if it depends on publicity. Do we hear the best music or the music with the best publicists?
Peterson veers a little too far towards soul jazz for me. I tend to follow some of the innovative labels Pi, AUM Fidelity and International Anthem. That invariably leads to interesting artists. Bandcamp is a great thing too.
Peterson veers a little too far towards soul jazz for me.
J to Z on Radio 3 at 5pm Saturday can be worth a listen too. I miss Jazz On Three but at least they're still broadcasting some concert recordings on this show.