Roger Crane is a retired aerospace engineer. He has become known as "The Song Scout," a song maven, who knows who wrote it, for what show it was written, and other such details. He devotes much of his free time to his Song Scout tasks which include writing jazz reviews for three publications, adding to his sheet music collection, researching music queries, and helping singers and other musicians find gigs and expand their repertoire. Roger says, "No one, as yet, wishes to pay me, so all of these endeavors are labors of love." Visit his website: www.TheSongScout.com
"Vocalist Gina Saputo has the talent as well as the passion to stretch and think outside the box." Tierney Sutton
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I recently came upon Tierney's praiseworthy blurb above and it makes me realize, once again, that those of us in the jazz circle - fans, musicians, writers, et al - frequently see the terms "outside the box" and "stretching the envelope" as descriptors of jazz artists. Although I've been an avid fan for fifty years I must admit that I'm not even sure what it means or why "outside" and "stretching" are necessarily considered favorable qualities.
Certainly jazz, unlike pop music is, or should be, idea intensive, so if these terms simply refer to seeking new musical avenues then, yes, they may be a good thing. But higher-faster-weirder - for its own sake - can quickly wear thin in the world of jazz improvising - at least to my ears. Relentlessly elliptical and needlessly hard to follow are not desirable attributes. But, on the other hand, if these forays into other "realms" of music are in the service of enhancing the beauty and excitement of the music, giving it wings, then that is a good thing.
Sitting through yet one more flabby blowing date, one more cliched set of tired, overplayed standards and cursory heads can be tiresome. So, if "outside" and "stretching" refer to seeking new ways, new approaches involving harmonic ambiguities, key changes, stretched out meters and such, but with focus on the music and without losing a sense of basic structure, then they are useful jazz approaches. The best musicians go beyond the notes and use their musical understanding to bring a "point of view" to the pieces they perform. If going "outside" and "stretching" help the performers to achieve that point of view and help them to achieve a unique voice, then they are good tools to employ.
Certainly a jazz musician can stay "inside" and minimize the "stretching," that is, consider meter and structure, and still create poetic imagery. Form and structure do not constrain a musician. But "outside" jazz is fine, if it is simply another tool in the jazz toolbox to assist musicians in the creation of expressive, beautiful and exciting music. But, as I see it, the focus need always be on the feeling and heart. - not on technique.
I welcome your observations.
Roger
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Are big bands coming back? Sure, every football season.
– Woody Herman
Basso continuo: the act of game fishing after the legal season has ended.
