From: will@ogre.cica.indiana.edu (William Sadler)
Subject: Re: CFD: Enough Interest Out There To...
Organization: Indiana University
Date: Wed, 23 Dec 1992 15:28:00 GMT

In <1992Dec23.005307.22436@netcom.com> noring@netcom.com (Jon Noring) writes:

>>Perhaps not, but there's no denying that the sound of the sweet bands of the 
>>20s and 30s is quite different from that of the swing bands that followed 
>>them.  Also, there's no denying that the umbrella of jazz encompasses a 
>>number of styles that at first listen would seem to bear no relation to each 
>>other.  The evolution may have been in small increments, but those small 
>>increments add up to some giant leaps.

>Excellent point.  Could not have said it better myself.  There is definitely
>a wall, whether we like it or not, between post-war and pre-war jazz in terms
>of style, etc.


My original reply was in response to your statement about "Dixieland" not
being included and I just wanted to point out that there were a lot of
white bands that did have a stylistic and historical impact that should not
be excluded.  Paul Whiteman being a good case in point.  Even though he
was the "King of Swing" and his music (which ran the gamut from novelty
pieces to renditions of "classical" music) was considered to be the
definition of the jazz style to most people in 1924-25, very few
history books could call his music jazz in anything but the loosest sense
of the word as it is understood today.  But to understand the culture of
1924 you have to realize that Paul Whiteman's music was an important part
of how people in that time thought about jazz.

I think it is a mistake, however, to view the history of jazz in an organic
sense, or in a sense of large stylistic periods separated by specific dates.
Woody Hermann was still active after WWII as was Ellington, Basie, and others.
Does that mean that they were playing a stylistically dead music?  Sure, there
is a lot of difference between Dizzy Gillespie's style and Louis Armstrong's
style, but is there that much difference between Lester Young and Charlie
Parker?  Or Monk and Duke Ellington?  Sure, there are differences, but
not a sudden radical change.  There is, rather, a stylistic transistion in
which the earlier style continues on within the newer. 

Will
>-- 

>Charter Member of the INFJ Club.

>Now, if you're just dying to know what INFJ stands for, be brave, e-mail me,
>and I'll send you some information.  It WILL be worth the inquiry, I think.

>=============================================================================
>| Jon Noring          | noring@netcom.com        | I VOTED FOR PEROT IN '92 |
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--
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*   _______________\|/_      Will Sadler     will@cica.indiana.edu        * 
*   Laser 44888    /|\                       sadler@iubacs.bitnet         *     
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