On the current jazz scene all past styles co-exist with the radically new. It's a pluralistic world where artists may feel free to explore the styles that they find the most stimulating and suitable for their musical personalities, wherever that may lead.
So we have Harry Allen and his new disk Rhythm on the River (Challenge 73311). It's a sort of pre-swing/swing oriented date with some players well suited to the mode employed. Harry plays a tenor that reflects the note-choice wisdom of some of the early masters, like Hawkins, Webster and that general stylistic complex. With the heat there's a bit of "cool" in there that doesn't quite suggest Lester as much as later Ben. He's picked some winning partners in Rossano Sportiello on piano, Warren Vache on cornet (for around half the album) and a rhythm team of Joel Forbes and Chuck Riggs, bass and drums.
All the songs have the river as theme. They are generally some old classics and they serve the players well. And there is some fine soloing from the horns and Rossano W.
All in all a nice revivalist session that gets it right.
Today's music rythm fan interacts with a "community" that is far larger than anyone ever dreamed possible before the widespread personal use of the Internet. This social networking is changing the way people market and sell music rythm and it's doing so on a global scale. Here's How: One fan hears a song and "tells" a dozen others online. Each, in turn, sends the information (and sometimes the entire song file) to another dozen people, and so on. If the song's hook is catchy and universal enough, the artist can reach thousands of fans in a matter of seconds. It's fast, it's easy, it's free, and it's global.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment. Not exactly sure what a rhythm fan is, and I am not sure what you are selling (if anything)but of course file sharing is one reason why the music business is in trouble and musicians are finding it difficult to make a living sometimes. When someone shares music that does not sell many copies to begin with, they are making it harder for those sorts of artists to get their music out. Does it happen? Of course. Does the music get spread around? Sometimes. Is it always good. No. It's one thing if something is long out of print. It's another when the sharing means a direct impact on sales. Of course it's a complex world today but it's definitely not always a good thing for the artists and small labels can be driven out of business. Just something to consider. No artists wants to starve to death while their music is being enjoyed for free by thousands.
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