Jazz

I'm going to take a minute to talk about Jazz here, not that it has anything to do with my main thesis, or whatever, but just because I do like Jazz.  We'll also be going off topic in a minute.

I heard some Jazz on the radio tonight, and it was one of my favorite instruments that you never hear anymore; the clarinet.  It used to be a big Jazz instrument, but with Bop, everyone went brass, and the woodier tones went away.

I own the Django album Douce Ambience and it is terrific, from start to finish.  It's his electric album, after he did all those acoustic jazz recordings with Stephane Grappeli.  So instead of just playing electric guitar over a new version of the Quintette du Hot Club de France, he put together a backing group that had a killer clarinet player.  Seriously, listen to the opening to "Blues Primitif" - there's this scorching run that knocks me out.  Plus, the album has a seriously shredding version of "Minor Swing" so, that's pretty cool too.

I really, really hate Wallpaper Jazz.  Kenny G, etc.  You know it.  But unlike most of my friends, this hasn't ruined Jazz for me.  I love love love Charles Mingus - listen to the solo sax break on "Better Git it in your Soul" - jazz literally never hit harder than this.  So there's some good stuff there.  But I think one of the reasons I like good jazz so much is that you get to hear instruments that don't make it into Rock all that much.

Some bands have a horn line, but honestly, how many bands other than Morphine feature a sax (a baritone sax, at that) as a lead instrument?  You never hear a clarinet in rock music.  I think the guitar drums bass sometimes keys, very occasionally horns lineup has been working in rock for so long, someone needs to shake things up.  In short, I wish someone would expand the pallette of rock instrumentation.

There's been progress.  The Beatles added harpsichord, strings, and damn near got the sitar in.  But what about a guzheng? or a viola da gamba? Indie rock, especially Iron and Wine, seems to be trying to redeem the banjo, but there's a world of sounds out there, and we're content with very few.