The Smithsonian Collection Of Classic Jazz
Amazon Review
This box set is an excellent survey of the history of jazz, doing a thorough job up until 1970 or so. Even after the hype of Ken Burns' documentary, this box set, compiled by Martin Williams for the Smithosonian, remains the collection of choice for most classrooms and beginners alike.
To be fair, Burns admitted to knowing little about jazz before starting his project; it all sprung from an idea to show the how music fit in American history (in this case, jazz), and he essentially received a crash course in the material in a relatively short time. Not so with Martin Williams, who was a longtime authority of the subject. At times, the academic approach to his work has been criticized by some fans as stuffy, but what he accomplishes is tough to beat.
He gives every period its due, and unlike Ken Burns, shows an understanding that major developments of jazz are often a result of large movements rather a single, glorified individual. Another fortunate result of this approach is how this set rarely overlooks any major artist. On the Burns set, too much focus is given to some individuals at the expense of others.
Of course, it all comes down to how well the box set teaches jazz, especially to newcomers, and there is absolutely no other collection that does a better job. On the Burns set, history it tainted by the agendas set by all those involved. Thus, some movements in the music are dismissed as merely music of historical importance and nothing more. Not so on this set. Williams takes a more objective approach, giving the listener more freedom in making his own judgments rather than imposing one on him.
The box set stops short of the 70's, denying one any exposure to fusion and how the music emerged from what was prematurely claimed to be its death. However, while most of the world had come to terms with free jazz, the controversy over fusion and the music afterwards was still raging on when Williams compiled this set. He may have avoided that period to save himself any trouble. Regardless, there's a lot going for this box set that more than makes up for this one drawback.
mfg
JB
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OskarMaria lebt und arbeitet in Frankfurt - hier mit Sohnemann. Wenn freie Zeit fürs Internet bleibt, dann gibt es hier neue Beiträge. Lieblingszitat: "Von den Dreien, Staat, Regierung und Ich - bin ich der stärkste. Das merkt euch!" (Ret Marut aka B. Traven im Ziegelbrenner)
Nachtrag: OskarMaria das ist eine kleine Verbeugung vor dem beinahe vergessenen Schriftsteller Oskar Maria Graf. In Zeiten der Bücherverbrennungen wurden seine Werke von den Nazis verschont, ja sogar teilweise empfohlen. "Verbrennt mich!" schrieb er 1933 in der Wiener Arbeiterzeitung, "nach meinem ganzen Leben und nach meinem ganzen Schreiben habe ich das Recht, zu verlangen, dass meine Bücher der reinen Flamme des Scheiterhaufens überantwortet werden und nicht in die blutigen Hände und die verdorbenen Hirne der braunen Mordbanden gelangen!" Schließlich floh er in die USA - dort lebte er in bescheidenen Verhältnissen. Deutschland wollte den unbequemen Mann nach dem Krieg nicht wieder haben. Er starb 1967 in New York.
Literaturempfehlung: Wir sind Gefangene - Autobiograhie 1927.