Language of jazz

[liamw]

Today's NY Times has an article about Mark O'Connor's venture into jazz by Terry Teachout, in which he (Teachout) writes the following:

"The language of jazz is too demanding to allow for late vocations; if you don't start listening to it at an early age, you'll always speak it with an accent."

Any thoughts on this?

[jazzypaul]

If you don't learn jazz early, you'll always speak with an accent...well, I've always liked Bill Bruford's accent, and he got started pretty late.

[omar zamora]

What's wrong with accents?

[andreimatorin]

i agree, there's nothing wrong with accets. Often accents sound better than without.

[andreimatorin]

btw, being a jazz violinist myself i prefer this quote from the article

"[Wynton] Marsalis sat in with the Hot Swing Trio at Alice Tully Hall, and once [Mark] O'Connor got going in earnest on "Tiger Rag," the trumpeter stepped back, cocked his head and smiled in apparent bemusement, looking for all the world like a young gun who had made the mistake of tangling with the big boys at a jam session"

long live jazz violin!!!

[liamw]

And what does a jazz violinist think of O'Connor's record?

I havent heard it, myself, but it doesn't sound all that compelling. Lots of groups have tried to reproduce the Grapelli-Rheinhart sound over the years, some more successful than others. But the original recordings are readily available. (The best Django tribute IMO is James Carter's wonderful "Chasing the Gypsy" -- the only one I know that gets any marks for originality.)

In any case, it doesn't seem to me that this is a very adventurous move for someone who wants (apparently) to be taken seriously as a jazz player.

[jazzypaul]

Well, in that case, we need to disregard the entire young lion movement, right? You gotta crawl before you can walk, and unfortunately for the jazz violinists of the world, Stephane set the bar pretty high. He may not have been the hippest player around, but damn is he fun to listen to. For a first jazz album, the O'Connor disc is fun. Innocuous, but fun. Ward, I think you're being a little rough on the Beaver...

[LeMo]

(The best Django tribute IMO is James Carter's wonderful "Chasing the Gypsy" -- the only one I know that gets any marks for originality.)

Man you are making a joke or what? A sentence like that can disqualified you for life, you know?

[liamw]

"Well, in that case, we need to disregard the entire young lion movement, right?"

Point well taken. BUT, there's a difference between working in an established & still viable idiom vs. pastiche, which is what the O'Connor project sounds like (on the basis of the Times article; again, I haven't heard it).

RE "Chasing the gypsy": Perhaps LeMo would elaborate. Why the strong objection to this recording?

[LeMo]

If you want hear a real CREATIVE hommage to Django's Music, listen to the duet between Joe McPhee and Raymond Boni on the French label "Emouvance" untitled "Voices & Dreams". It's the only answer than I can give to your question.

[Jazzmoose]

Getting back to the original question, I must admit that I feel this is true. I came to jazz late in life, and I think music is a lot like religion in that what you grow up with will always influence you to a degree, and any "conversions" you undergo will always be imprinted on your thought processes in a different manner. I don't know; stuff you discover later seems a bit more reasoned out than intuitive like the stuff you grow up with. I don't know if this is better or worse. I can say that I chose jazz; jazz didn't choose me, but somehow I don't think I'll ever "feel it" as deeply as someone who grew up with the music...