Appreciating reasoned criticism among musicians
Because jazz occupies such a tiny niche in the world of music, internal dialogue among musicians tends to be either sickeningly praiseworthy or bitterly confrontational — flattery fests or tempests in teapots. Rarely to you ever hear a musician engage publicly in measured criticism of another artist.
Pianist Fred Hersch, in the "Blindfold Test" in the April issue of Downbeat, makes surprisingly critical assessments of tunes that are revealed to be performed by great artists and Hersch’s colleagues. For each critical assertion, he presents concise reasons to support his point of view. The article is not available online, so I’ll have to quote it the old fashioned way, presumably in excerpts that qualify as fair use.
Responding to "Mexican Hip Dance" by Horace Silver, Hersch says, in part:
It didn’t feel like the ensemble was going anywhere, and the pianist couldn’t get anything going. His left hand was completely clunky, just stabbing dotted quarter notes ... But when he tried to do some interesting things with his right hand, he’d break off. So the tune never took flight.Upon being informed of the artist’s name, Hersch says, "I’m sorry I dissed Horace, but it just wasn’t that good. It certainly wasn’t as when he played with his A-band that had Joe Henderson or Freddie Hubbard."
Hersch goes on to criticize another pianist, citing rhythmic and harmonic aspects of a recorded piece. When informed of the name of the artist, Hersch says:
It’s Jason Moran? Wow! Jason is a close personal friend and colleague. He’s going to be annoyed at me, but I still have to say that this piece didn’t work for me.I’d like to hear Moran’s reaction. Even if he were annoyed, it’s possible that he’d respect Hersch’s critique because of its reasoned presentation. Or maybe not. In any case, it's refreshing to hear Hersch's strong and coherent point of view.
Hersch is not totally grumpy in the Blindfold Test. He likes selections by Art Tatum and Andrew Hill.
No comments:
Post a Comment