Top 50 JAzz Blog

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Celtics Jazz Quintet

The Celtics are b.ball players, but they are also a quintet. Like all musical ensembles, they are hit and miss. Creative in streaks, they are capable of long lapses in focus. Their grit is sometimes suspect, but they can bring it. And when they sync, they can blow. Here's how I see them: Rajon Rondo=Miles Davis Paul Pierce=Coleman Hawkins Kevin Garnett=Booker Little Kendrick Perkins=Charles Mingus Ray Allen=Big Sid Catlett I ain't gonna explain. Either you think I got it, or ya don't.

10 comments:

King Dahl said...

OK, I'll bite...

Seems like the 60's quintet almost fits-

Rondo=Miles
Pierce=Wayne Shorter
Ray Allen=Herbie
KG=Ron Carter
Perkins=Tony Williams

Steve Provizer said...

Couldn't resist, eh?

Miles-check. Wayne subbing for Bean-ok. Ray as Herbie-I can see that. KG as Carter-well, for body type, yea, but otherwise it's hard to see. Perkins as Tony Williams-no way. Perk is usually a half step behind; often moving at a direction-less lope.

Steve Provizer said...

A friend, Steve Hollinger wrote:

To tell you the truth, I'm not following it closely. But the few games I've watched I don't go for so many full court drives without a pass. I was a fan of Dennis Johnson, always passing the ball. As for your "quintet" you can't have jazz without a conversation -- that requires team players, not grandstanders.

My reply: I agree that the chest-pounding “me”-ism style of the game as it’s often played today is antithetical to the jazz spirit. Nonetheless, there are individual b.ball/jazz performance styles that can reasonably be compared.

ASK said...

i get it! very clever!! :)
hugs,
amy

Anonymous said...

I’ll go with these, but I’ll probably get hammered!

Rajon Rondo=Charlie Parker: Creativeness
Paul Pierce=Dexter Gordon: The Complete Package
Kevin Garnett=Charles Mingus: Intensity
Kendrick Perkins=Thelonious Monk: The Stopper!
Ray Allen=Zoot Sims: Smooth and Dependable

Steve Provizer said...

Tom-You know hammering is not my style...I have a little trouble with Monk as a stopper. I see him more as Cousy-you think you know what he's gonna do and then-boom. Inre Ray Allen-people have got to reckon with how streaky he actually is.

Anonymous said...

You're probably correct as to Monk, but I was going on the posture of Monk.....he and Perkins have the same look in their eyes and command on stage. You don't mess with Monk! As for Ray Allen, I missed that entirely as I needed a drummer to complete the quintet.....it was probably another "senior moment"! They're all streaky, so I'll change it to Billy Higgins.

Steve Provizer said...

I'm not sure if it's Monk's look, or Benny Goodman's glare... Interestingly, Billy Higgin's look was pretty much the opposite.

ChrisKelsey said...

I can't look at KG without thinking of Newk.

Steve Provizer said...

The hair thing can throw you off. Like to see KG w. a mohawk. (scroll down to my "Findings of the Institute" post).