Just to think of the arrogance behind a statement like 'I play world music . . . The avant-garde's naive fascination with ethnic music is worthy of Marsalis's ridicule. There is no way to turn back the clock on all that has happened in jazz over the past two decades, nor should we want to try. Those of us who are more familiar with the rich diversity of contemporary jazz know that boredom isn't an issue so long as the music keeps evolving. Still, it should give anyone pause to consider that all of the most intrepid jazz experimentalists are now in their forties or older, while the leading musicians under thirty see themselves as craftsmen making small refinements in a time-tested art.
Progress is frequently a myth in jazz, as in most other aspects of contemporary life.
But it is a myth so central to the romance of jazz that the cost of relinquishing it might be giving up jazz altogether. All rights reserved.