What is Jazz? (pt2)
-
Artist:
On October 15, 1955, Leonard Bernstein offered as part of the celebrated Omnibus television series, a program entitled "What is Jazz".
The program quickly became the stuff of legend- so much so, in fact, that when comedian Sid Caeser lampooned it on his Show of Shows over a year later, everybody still got the joke.
But there was other, deeper evidence of the degree to which people responded to the broadcast- witness the release of an album by the same name that took Bernstein's narrative and presented it in "guaranteed high fidelity in 360 hemispheric sound", the publication of Bernstein's script in his collection of writings The Joy Of Music, and the even more recent release of the videotape of the broadcast itself.
While Mr.Bernstein can speak for himself- and does, with his typical eloquence- as to his perspective on jazz and jazz making, the method of his program was extraordinarily innovative, combining prerecorded performances with "live" presentations to garner insights not only into jazz as music but jazz as musical process.
Key to Bernstein's presentation is the combination of musical exemple with narration; as the listener will note, music and narrative become all of a piece in Bernstein's hands.
The result is an unusually eclectic performance, combining elements of blues (represented by Bessie Smith and Leadbelly) with Dixieland, ragtime, cool and other jazz forms to offer a surprisingly succinct and cogent overview of jazz music. ...from the original LP notes.
Locating MOG account...
Comments (6)