|
Audio Asylum Thread Printer Get a view of an entire thread on one page |
For Sale Ads |
69.203.74.142
In Reply to: Should I? Maybe not. Ah, why not. posted by opinionated on April 30, 2007 at 12:06:36:
I didn't read that interview (or blind test, if that's what it was), but if Metheny/Meldau merely stated that Evans wasn't a major influence for them - as opposed to actually dissing his contribution to jazz - then I don't see what the big deal is.Miles absolutely ripped Freddie Hubbard several times in interviews. Lester Bowie wasted Herbie Hancock in an interview. One of my major influences was Jackie Mac, but several excellent musicians I know don't dig him at all, and certainly weren't influenced by him. I wouldn't expect Kenny Garrtett to site Dolphy as a major influence, nor do I detect much 'Trane influence in Turrentine's playing.
I don't happen to be much of a Metheny or Meldau fan, and at least so far I don't believe they will ever approach the import of Evans. I think sometimes people - including musicians - kind of forget that Evans, along with his trio mates, had a great influence on trio playing and rhythm section interplay, not just piano playing. Whether Meldau and Metheny realize it or not they've likely been affected by that, even if its through some other jazzer who was influenced by Evans. But usually when asked, musicians site people who've had a direct influence on their instrumental style as major influences. There's really no reason to expect every jazz piano player to site Evans as a major influence. Andrew Hill is mentioned below. Anybody hear much Evans influence in his *piano playing*, or Tyner's, or Chick's?
Follow Ups:
I don't have a problem over an artist being deemed as "important" at face value. I don't care if it's Beethoven, Charlie Parker, the Beatles, or Eminem, in this regard.What I do have a problem with is when this "importance" is then applied as factual basis to demean the worth of other artists and/or the musical tastes of other enthusiasts.
...that it was an interview and not a blind thing and it was a dissing. That is based on the the preamble to the emails I received. I could have been misinformed but there were actually 2 emails to me. I agree with you about the difference between influence and put-down and I believe that is the point and is probably the only point. I couldn't care less if Brad is cranky or not. By the way, Bill Evans was not cranky and you didn't write Matheny which removed some of my crankiness.Thank you Rick!
Opps... Sorry Grandpa.
No Guru, No Method, No Teacher
xoxo
just checkin yer eyes. ;-)
dh
xoxo
This guy is saying DB should have shown them the door as soon as they said they weren't huge Evans fans. That's just silly. Can you imagine if they had a policy like that from the beginning? Half the shit in the magazine's history--true or not--would never have been printed.
dh
... that Brad has just gotten tired of being compared to Evans, which is understandable, given that the similarities between them are pretty superficial. Too many writers look at him and say, "look, he's a piano player, he's white, he slouches when he plays, he likes to play standards in a trio format, and his music is kind of introspective ... he must be copying Bill Evans!"If Mehldau was better at self-promotion, he would respond to this kind of thing by saying something like, "Wow, it's flattering to be compared to the great Bill Evans." But Brad's a bit cranky by nature, and he knows that he's more influenced by Wynton Kelly and even classical music than Evans, so usually responds by saying he isn't much influenced by Evans and doesn't even like his playing that much. Not good pr! But who really cares what the man *says*. Let's listen to what he plays!
I love Bill Evans and agree completely that every piano player of the past 40 years has been influenced by him whether they know it or not. BUT... I also like Mehldau, and think he's made quite a contribution, especially for somebody still relatively young. To mention just a couple things, I think his use of compound meters and his ability to improvise independent lines with his left hand (as opposed to just comping chords) are quite impressive.
tired of being compared to Evans; and that the comparisons made by writers are superficial. Also agree re Mehldau's contributions. I find him a lot of fun to listen to at times. A couple years ago I saw him at the Newport Jazz Festival playing solo (have also seen his trio a couple times). I was in the front row, just a few feet away. He was very impressive that day, and it was great fun watching from up so close.
You're right about the two characteristics you mentioned. I just saw Mehldau at a local jazz club this week and a neat gimmick was that while playing a complex rhythmic line with his left hand midpiano, with his right hand he would play some stuff above the left, then some below, and so on. Actually was effective, almost like three voices. Also did the same thing with his right hand playing the rhythmic background, and the left going above and below. His rhythmic drive is impressive. Where he isn't great is that he doesn't have outstanding imagination with his right hand improvisations. He did surprise me with a few choruses of pretty advanced right hand fast playing but that wasn't the norm. One original song of his, Resignation, is quite beautiful and lyrical even though the changing time signatures make it difficult to hum along.
| ||||||||||||
|
This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors: