When asked 'what is jazz?' Louis Armstrong said; “If you
have to ask, then you'll never know."
This thing shows up all the time-on websites, tweets, facebook. It shows how abysmal and embattled the state of jazz is that people have
to self-aggrandize by declaring: “Look at me. I get it. I’m hip. If you don’t get it,
hang your aesthetic tail between your legs and get lost.”
Armstrong probably said it. Why not? He said a lot of
things. The point is, this quote is as unrepresentative of Pops as any quote
you could possibly find. His life was about reaching out; about achieving an emotional
connection with as many people as possible. He didn’t separate himself from the
unhip. He drew them into his energy.
People, do you really have to use this music as some kind
of emotional crutch, like teenagers arguing over their, like, favorite pop
star? If you care that new people come into the fold, look at it this way: Non-jazz people are a lot more likely to be drawn to this music if they don't think the
people who love it and support it are snotty jerks.
5 comments:
i think he was just trying to blow off an annoying interviewer from some square mag
If not that, than something a lot like it.
http://www.fretboardjournal.com/features/online/bob-shane-big-bill-broonzy-louis-armstrong-and-horses-and-best-correction-ever
Big Bill Broonzy: "All the songs I've heard all my life is folk songs. I never heard horses sing none of them yet."
I remain agnostic about the original source of that quote.
an alternate version attributed to Fats Waller: "If you don't know by now,lady, don't mess with it!"
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