Food for Thought Tuesday, March 08, 2005

Mark Steyn, from an obit of bandleader Artie Shaw:

As much as he reviled the music biz, he had little time for the pomposity of post-big band jazz. "It doesn't have to sound like broken crockery to be jazz," he sighed. "It's solemn rather than serious. I told Clint Eastwood that Dirty Harry was the closest to art he ever got. That picture's America as it really is. Whereas a picture like Bird, which was meant to be a serious thing, was solemn and boring. If you're going to pick an artist who's at odds with his time you don't pick Charlie Parker. He was worshipped in his lifetime. He just screwed up."

@ 7:27:00 PM,

1 Comments:

At 8:36 PM, Blogger BeK said...

Perhaps I'm missing the point. Van Morrison believes that not only has he influenced just about every songwriter who's come after him, but also that no one who covers his material could come close to the majesty that he's already laid down on wax.

He--and Mr. Shaw--may well be right, but it doesn't make him any less an asshole.

 

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