Throwdown: Downbeat v Jazz Times, Dec 08-Jan 09

by Anthony Medici in Album Reviews, Industry News, Opinion Posts

I thought it might be fun, and perhaps even instructive, to make some head to head and round by round comparisons between our two heavyweight jazz mags, Dowbeat (DB) and Jazz Times (JT), as they compete for the hearts, souls, and dollars of jazz fans. JT clearly wants to lead the pack, as last week I received their January 2009 issue, while my copy of DB that came in the mail a few days later was only the Decemer 2008 issue. Apparently the DB group are either laggards or have undue respect for the calendar. I noticed that DB’s individual copy price is $4.99, while JT come sin at a bargain price of $4.95 an issue. I wonder what DB does with its extra 4 cents?

I’ve already covered the , er, Tony Bennett cover of JT in my last post. Reminds me of those festivals that call themselves jazz festivals, but which feature pop and R&B stars, as if afraid to feature jazz too prominently. On the other hand, DB’s cover features the great Benny Golson, a true jazz master. It’s nice to see a jazz magazine feature a jazz musician, isn’t it? So DB wins the cover matchup.

Going to the contents, DB’s John McDonough offers a good interview with Golson. It starts rather curiously with McDonough’s comments on making it to 80, “still at the top of your game,” and “you begin to wonder whether maybe the biggest score of all in life is to be the last man standing.” I wasn’t too sure if McDonough was talking about himself or Golson. Still not. I’ll just mention a couple of aspects of the article. Golson’s opposition to post-modern and free jazz is disappointing, considering he was buddies with Coltrane growing up in Philadelphia. Golson, sounding like he is still stuck int he fifties, considers it all a “fraud.” Well, I’m not going to hold it against Benny; perhasp he wwas egged on by the notably reactionary McDonough. Golson also reveals that the copyright on his songs have kept him pretty affluent; when you pen songs like “Killer Joe,” the money will roll in in sizable amounts, even in jazz. Check out Golson’s “New York Scene,” “Groovin’ with Golson,” “The Other Side of Golson,” and “The Modern Touch” for some fine straightahead jazz.

DB continues to throw punches with a long, and frankly overblown, except from Dan Ouellette’s forever-in-the- making biography of bassist Ron Carter. This chapter documents beyond any possible need Carter’s contribution to A Tribe Called Quest’s album, “The Low End Theory.” I don’t know about you, but when I think of Carter’s career, I don’t think of A Tribe Called Quest, do you? If this level of documentation is representive of Ouellette’s book, it’s likely to come in at 1,200 pages or so.

DB also presents another crowd-pleaser in its roundup of best CDs of 2008, but the attraction of this feature has begun to pall on me. Its Top 5 picks strike me as rather dubious. I’m thinking here particularly of Otis Taylor’s “Recapturing the Banjo.” Not on my Christmas list. I suppose it might be as good as claimed, but I have an allergy to banjo music. There are dozens of 4 star selections, so many as to make the designation virtually meaningless. Like Lake Wobegone, where all the children are above-average, so in DB-ville, all the albums are above-average.

The biggest part of this DB issue is the “Dowbeat Jazz School” feature. If you, Dear Reader, are not interested in schools, jazz or otherwise, most of this issue will be wasted on you. I’m still bemused by the enormous growth in college jazz programs. Is this just another way colleges can suck huge amounts of tuition from naively optimistic students– or, more likely, their doting parents? As it may be, I’m less concerned about the necessity, or even advisability, of college, for aspiring jazzsters, as I am about the effect on jazz itself, in particular, the increasing academicization of the art. Too much in that topic to discuss here. I will only note that I got an uncomfortable chuckle out of “How to Practice ‘Giant Steps’,” in particular, author David Demsey’s advice to “practice these half-note voice leading pathways like you would practice a chorale in the style of J.C. Bach.” Wow, that’s helpful! I can just hear a line like that coming from another great jazz educator, Art Blakey.

Over on the JT side, there is the aforementioned cover story, representative of the worst of current jazz journalism: superficial, insubstantial, commercially-driven. JT follows that with a decent article on Roy Hargrove, although it suffers from JT’s “rah-rah” house style. I don’t think you are likely to find tough, analytical features under the current editorial makeup of the magazine.

Having said that, I was quie pleased to see a feature on Wadada Leo Smith. Smith exudes so much integrity, it is hard to trivialize or plasticize him. Another feature is on Bill Bruford. I’m sure this will please his fans, but I’m not one of them.

Both JT and DB have smaller features on Mary Halvorson; JT’s is better. DB, however, has a short– too short– feature on Gerald Cleaver, one of the best drummers in jazz today. I’ve always liked JT’s Overdue Ovation and At Home features; this month, they feature Mundell Lowe and David “Fathead” Newman, respectively. DB has “Blindfold Test,” JT imitates it with “Before and After.” [

JT boasts of its all-star columnists. This month Nate Chinen makes a confused and dull argument about “Jazz in Hard Times.” Gary Giddins almost misses the point in his account of the most recent batch of NEA Jazz Masters. Only in the last paragraph does he raise the point, “Is the future of jazz to be nothing but government backpatting and educational initiatives?” Too bad Giddins didn’t take that as his starting point.

If you’re scoring on points, I’ll have to call this round a draw. Will the New Year see a knock-out from these aged and tired contenders? Let’s wait and see.

Recent Listening: Among recent listening, including the first three discs from “Fearless Leader,” the Coltrane Prestige reissue from Concord, Braxton’s “Charlie Parker Project,” Dewey Redman’s “In London” and “Musics,” two really knocked me out: Ellery Eskelin’s take on the music of Gene Ammons and soul jazz, with Marc Ribot on guitar and Kenny Wollesen on drums, and Steve Lacy Quintet, “Live in Paris 1975,” with Lacy on soprano sax (of course) Steve Potts on alto and soprano sax, Irene Aebi on cello and violin, Kent Carter on bass, and Kenneth Tyler on percussion. Lacy and company come charging out of the gate and never let up. Potts is particularly energized, but the whole group cooks. Eskelin and company come from the other direction, offering a slinky, sinuous post-modern take on Ammon’s brand of soulful jazz.