Chapter 10 notes

Virtual Production & Distribution

• 1970s expectations: jazz technologists predicted synthesizers/electric guitars would reshape sound; instead, the true revolution unfolded off-stage.
• $1{,}000$ CDs + jewel cases advertised at $\$890$ ➔ DIY physical publishing below $\$1$ per disc.
  • Eco-friendly options: trays from recycled soda/water bottles.
  • Added promo services: mailers to DJs, labels, licensers.
• Quantity boom: Ted Gioia receives $>1{,}000$ self-financed jazz CDs per year; estimates total monthly output now exceeds an entire 1950s year.
• Paradox: CD glut occurs while the medium is becoming obsolete—downloads & streams send files globally “at the click of a mouse.”
  • Millions of tracks on paid & free sites; illegal options abound.
  • Essential modern-era tools: MySpace (legacy), Twitter, Facebook, YouTube (>$1$ million “jazz” hits).
• Digital track often usurps live performance:
  • Norway’s Punkt Festival: immediate post-concert remixes in an “Alpha Room.”
  • Dave Douglas: sells downloads within hours of a gig.
  • Dave Brubeck $2007$ BBC link-up: pianist in NYC, orchestra in London (latency-defying tele-collab).
  • Remote lessons & jams: Budapest ↔ Hollywood.
  • Zenph Studios: software-generated “virtual” legends; Finale & Sibelius provide orchestral mock-ups.

Technological Disintermediation

• Corporate term: disintermediation = “cutting out the middleman.”
  • Targets: record stores, distributors, CD manufacturers, agents—possibly even musicians (via AI).
• Outcome: Artists act as entrepreneurs/label owners.
  • Contrast to 1950s–1980s rarity (e.g., Marian McPartland, Horace Silver labels).
• New models: ArtistShare (\$2001$; founder Brian Camelio).
  • Crowdfunds projects; perks include studio invitations & liner-note credit.
  • Maria Schneider’s $2004$ “Concert in the Garden” wins Grammy; donor attends ceremony as “executive producer.”
  • Resembles classical patronage era.

Post-$9/11$ Earnestness & Changing Aesthetics

• Cultural shifts (\$9/11$ trauma + economic malaise) dampen 1980s–90s postmodern irony.
• Historical analogs: bebop’s gravity (mid-$1940s$), avant-garde seriousness (early $1960s$).

Pianistic Case Studies

• Brad Mehldau (b.$1970$):
  • Quotes Nietzsche; academic paper: “Smashing the Framework with a Piano Hammer.”
  • Stage gravitas; refracts pop/rock—Beatles, Paul Simon, Radiohead—into complex jazz art songs.
  • Example: “$50$ Ways to Leave Your Lover” in $7/4$ with dense textures.
  • Pushes beyond Bill Evans comparisons: advanced two-hand orchestration, synergy with Larry Grenadier & Jorge Rossy/Jeff Ballard.
• Matthew Shipp (b.$1960$):
  • Miscast as Cecil Taylor disciple; operates “on the edge,” balancing tonality & atonality.
  • Diverse influences: Stevie Wonder, Earth Wind & Fire; experiments with hip-hop loops yet excels acoustically.
  • Tension between analytical architecture & raw intensity defines allure.

Twenty-First-Century Jazz Vocalism

• Dominant commercial trio: Diana Krall (b.$1964$), Norah Jones (b.$1979$), Eva Cassidy ($1963–1996$).
  • Traits: stripped-down microtonal nuance, introspection, avoidance of flashy scat.
• Krall: ultra-slow ballads (<$40$ BPM), bossa nova, emotional exposure; celebrity amplified via marriage to Elvis Costello.
• Jones: $25$-million-selling “Come Away with Me”; blends jazz phrasing with country twang; influence of Ravi Shankar noted.
  • Sparks wave of singer-songwriter-oriented jazz releases.
• Cassidy: posthumous stardom; haunting readings of “Autumn Leaves,” “Fields of Gold,” “Over the Rainbow.”
• Counter-examples:
  • Jamie Cullum—athletic showmanship.
  • Kurt Elling—Beat-poet energy & vocalese.
  • Patricia Barber—literary deconstruction & originals (e.g., Paris live set opening line about falling pianos).
  • Retro revivalists: Michael Bublé, Matt Dusk, Peter Cincotti, Tony DeSare (Sinatra lineage sans deep jazz feel).
  • Bobby McFerrin: career zigzags; $1988$ “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” a one-man overdub; duets with Jack Nicholson, Yo-Yo Ma, Chick Corea; conducts orchestras.
• Rich supporting cast: Cassandra Wilson, Dianne Reeves, Luciana Souza, Esperanza Spalding, Gretchen Parlato, Tierney Sutton, etc.; industry image-fixation threatens long-term support.

Trumpet Traditions & Ideological Detente

• Trumpet often safeguards history: Marsalis, Payton, Blanchard, Roney (Miles Davis heir).
• Post-$2000$: less factionalism—echo of Daniel Bell’s “end of ideology.”
• Exemplars:
  • Tom Harrell: schizophrenia battle; music > doctrine.
  • Roy Hargrove (b.$1969$): big band to hip-hop RH Factor; versatility without irony.

Saxophone Pluralism

• Joe Lovano: Ornette tributes, Gunther Schuller collabs, bop albums, Sinatra/Caruso theme discs; categories meaningless.
• Joshua Redman (b.$1969$): Harvard grad; Ornette covers, funk Elastic Band, chamber-jazz “Compass.”
• James Carter (b.$1969$): multi-reed master; baritone sax polls; stylistic omnivore from Ayler energy to jam-band grooves.
• Other standouts: Chris Potter, Kenny Garrett, Miguel Zenón, Donny McCaslin, Mark Turner, Anat Cohen.

Education, Professionalism & the Post-Berklee Era

• Jazz now codified like $\text{calculus}$:
  • Berklee College: $4{,}000$ students, $>70$ countries, $>500$ faculty, $80\%$ music-career placement.
  • Other hubs: UNT, Manhattan School, William Paterson, NYU, USC, CalArts, New School.
• Impact: cleaner phrasing, technical polish, unprecedented talent reservoir.
  • Notable players: Kurt Rosenwinkel, Marc Ribot, Ben Monder, Nels Cline, Julian Lage; Ben Allison, Avishai Cohen; Stefon Harris; Brian Blade; Béla Fleck; Regina Carter; etc.

Globalization & “Glocalization”

• Jazz = “America’s classical music” yet thrives abroad; Stuart Nicholson’s term glocalization captures local infusions.
• European labels (ECM, ACT, HatHut, CAM) & $>300$ Italian festivals among thousands continent-wide.

European Renaissance

• Historical foundations: $1919$ Ansermet Bechet review; early $1930s$ Benelux festivals; critics Delaunay, Panassié, Goffin.
• Django Reinhardt creates jazz manouche.
• Past expats: Shearing, McPartland, Thielemans, McLaughlin, Zawinul.
• Modern breakout: e.s.t. (Esbjörn Svensson Trio)—rigorous touring ($>200$ gigs/yr), stylistic shifts, tragically ended $2008$.
• Innovative acts: Nik Bärtsch’s Ronin (“zen funk”); collective culture via F-ire & Loop (UK), Instabile Orchestra (Italy), Norrbotten (Sweden).
• Key European artists by instrument:
  • Piano: Bollani, Pieranunzi, Wasilewski, Wollny, Bjørnstad, Django Bates.
  • Trumpet: Stanko, Rava, Fresu, Molvaer, Vloeimans, Eick.
  • Sax: Brötzmann, Evan Parker, Cafiso, Garbarek.
  • Others: Trovesi (clarinet), Petrella (trombone), Bennink (drums), Nguyên Lê (guitar).
  • Vocalists: Jamie Cullum, Roberta Gambarini, Solveig Slettahjell.

Latin America & Afro-Cuban / Brazilian Currents

• NY as economic hub for Afro-Cuban music ➔ Machito’s $1940s$ bands; $1957$ “Kenya.”
• Tito Puente elevates timbales/front-stage presence.
• Notable migrations: Santamaría ($1950$), Palmieri family ($1925$), D’Rivera ($1981$), Danilo Pérez ($1984$).
• Brazil: self-sustaining scene—Jobim, João Gilberto, later Gismonti, Pascoal, Eliane Elias; sophisticated pop (Nascimento, Veloso) shapes global jazz.

Asia-Pacific & South Asian Fusions

• Miles From India (\$2008$) symbolises long-distance Indo-jazz synergy.
• Rudresh Mahanthappa & Vijay Iyer: U.S.-based second-generation innovators merging Carnatic/Khyal ideas with post-bop.
• Japan: robust ecosystem—artists (Akiyoshi, Hiromi, Hino) + jazz cafés/clubs; audience gradually champions domestic acts.

Africa: The Anticipated Return

• Historic township jazz: “hard bop without the bop.”
• Abdullah Ibrahim endorsed by Ellington; Blue Notes / Jazz Epistles alumni (Masekela, Moeketsi).
• Barriers: poverty, touring logistics; success stories (Lionel Loueke) require U.S. relocation.
• Prediction: African sonic wealth poised to shape jazz’s next chapters.

Overarching Implications & Future Outlook

• Jazz’s core trait: restless hybridization—an “attitude” of openness rather than fixed practices.
• Technology, education, and globalization democratize creation & distribution while challenging traditional gatekeepers.
• Ethical/economic tension: Who gets displaced? Middlemen, labels, perhaps musicians via AI.
• Philosophical layer: Return to patronage (ArtistShare) mirrors classical era; community becomes co-creator.
• Practical takeaway for students & practitioners:
  • Embrace multi-platform presence (social + live + virtual).
  • Cultivate versatility & technical excellence via education yet maintain personal voice.
  • Engage with global idioms—your “local” can now be part of jazz’s universal language.