A classic, obviously.
It’s funny: blogging is thought of as the medium of the short and quick, nothing too in-depth, as we jump from screen to screen with a minimum of reflection. It’s not always so. Even without digesting it fully, Ethan Iverson’s multipart analysis has taught me a lot about music I thought I already knew well. It’s the kind of criticism we all should be doing, somehow.
Albums like Art Blakey’s Keystone 3 and Wynton’s Black Codes changed my life completely in the early ’80s, which is why I’m always irked by the current fashion in Wynton-bashing. It’s great to see Ethan bucking the trend, and putting these album covers up in lights. But as accurate as his descriptions are, I never saw a need to choose between the Marsalis aesthetic and something like Chick Corea’s Three Quartets. I loved it all.
Best insight: Jeff “Tain” Watts as an heir to Billy Cobham as well as Elvin Jones. Yes, the polyrhythmic drive of Wynton’s early band was far closer to electric fusion than anyone wanted to admit. And the Young Lions were supposed to be anti-fusion incarnate. Goes to show you: Always question the received wisdom. Listen to the music.
[P.S. While interviewing Wallace Roney a few years ago, I mentioned how people sometimes call Wynton’s early bandleader work derivative of the second Miles Davis quintet. Roney and I agreed: this is wrong. Wynton’s clearest antecedent, in Roney’s view? Chick Corea. Specifically, the 1966 Woody Shaw-Joe Farrell sessions that gave us Tones for Joan’s Bones, later compiled as Inner Space.]
One Comment
Wow, that connection between these early Wynton albums and Chick's 60's quintet work makes total sense. I have both of these and love them both but never drew the connection until now. Woody Shaw is a key link of course, he taught Wynton. One of the most underappreciated jazz geniuses ever and he taught Wynton, remember.