The Intelligent Choice

By Menzi Maseko

“Jazz musicians in the ’80s continued the fight against electric rock-fusion, but their music and artistry is often dismissed and the response to these players is often racist. Screwed up in their shallow understanding of politics, jazz critics and musicians—who were equally inept in the arena of thinking—called the music neo-conservative, “republican jazz” and, worst of all, the music of “young black men in suits.” It never came clear to those writers that, since the commercial world at large wanted disorder, sloppiness and over-amplified clichés, it took more courage to come out swinging..”– (JazzTimes article by Essayist and Jazz Critic Stanley Crouch)

At first I was torn between calling this article, The Intellectuals Choice or Race Blues and Tenacity, but then I thought both these would seem rather snobbish or even audacious to a first time reader; after all we are strive to woo more readers and listeners towards the unconventional cultural experiences. The intelligent choice seemed more appropriate after reading the notoriously frank Stanley Crouch’s article, which was written 12 years ago. I could have also chosen to quote much more of his informative essays, but I thought the above was an apt and relevant to our purpose here.

What I will explore however briefly here is how music, specifically jazz and other more sidelined forms of artistic expression reflect the mood of each generation. Even though Crouch was essentially writing to decry the tendency of certain people to misinterpret the trajectory of jazz and mainstream music to a susceptible public, my purpose is to show that this did not just happen to jazz. It is true that jazz is still one of the most misunderstood of all musical genres, next to Hip-Hop and Dub Reggae. With that said, it must be made clear that these misinterpretations, misunderstandings and hence misappropriations were by no means honest mistakes. There have been and indeed continue to be certain personalities within the mass media, the music industry and even artists themselves whose business it is to double-deal, misinform, derail and hinder the natural progression of quality music. They do this in various subtle and sometimes noticeable ways, well perhaps noticeable to the intelligent observer of trends and to lovers of justice.

Jazz and most recently Reggae have been regarded as musical genres most frequently chosen by people of above average intelligence; and by this I don’t mean to suggest that lovers of classical, rhythm and blues, metal and other forms of music possess less scruples, not at all. What I mean to highlight is the general perception that these genres are associated with, which is that the music requires a little more deeper engagement, and that it tends to be generally more thought-provoking. This contributes to the fluctuation and often disappointing popularity of its practitioners. Unless one crosses over by blending their jazz or reggae with some other fashionable sound, they usually languish in relative obscurity often till the end of their lives. Now for many serious musicians, crossing over is just another nice way to say selling out.

The serious jazz and reggae artists most of the time epitomizes the proverbial ‘struggling artist’, rebel stigmata. Of course there are always those who rise above these stereotypes and manage to succeed in the competitive world of music without even striving to compete.

Stars such as MosesMolelekwa, ZimNgqawana, Darius Brubeck, Abdullah Ibrahim, Lucky Dube,FeyaFaku and the megastar Hugh Masekela are just a few of them. Although Masekeladoes not sit comfortably in any musical category, as an instrumentalist and an international musician he is still regarded by many as a jazz musician. This is also not a label that some of these artists have been comfortable with; indeed many of them have rejected the term completely.

The late Molelekwa was acknowledged by the young and the elderly alike as a phenomenal jazz genius even though he ‘transitioned’ at the age of 28; having released 3 or 4 albums that set him firmly as one of the brightest stars on the jazz constellation. Soft-spoken and equally difficult to pigeon-hole, he was however able to swing and truly earn the complement of jazz sensation. But what made these few people mainstream favorites aside from their prodigious phraseology of a distinctively South Afrikan jazz, is that they managed to capture the attention of certain contemporary opinion makers. There arevirtually hundreds of other equally or more capable artists who could have easily captivated the audience if their music was given the proper channel and platform, but many factors and circumstances conspired to not make it so.

Call it fate or coincidence, or perhaps the limited size of an appreciative audience, but one thing is for sure – it takes much more than pure talent to rise to the top.Crouch mentioned above that the ‘commercial world at large wanted disorder-‘and upon this did I aim to set my essay, but just like jazz improvisation, the writing decided to take a direction of its own.

Regardless, there is an alchemical or even metaphysical saying that ‘out of chaos comes order’, and this may somehow explain how certain types of artistic expressions may emerge and capture peoples attention far more than others, but in a world that has been proven to prefer superficiality, sensationalism and indeed disorder over dexterity and deep beauty,  it is not surprising to find that a few intelligent people will fill an obscure jazz club to listen to pure and expansive expression, while thousands more prefer to fill stadiums listening to lusterless and unimaginative noise. The crowded stadium keeps a lot of people happy, paid and intoxicated with glee while the dark jazz or reggae spot nurtures the deeper intelligences.

This is the existential chaos with which we must content ourselves with or else we can occasionally experience a bit of both worlds. Just like what I am listening to now, a ‘Hip Hoposist’ , the skillful and gifted Soweto Kinch who plays amazing tenor-saxophone and is just as comfortable rapping through a fusion of jazz and Hip Hop. He even raps, “Nobody gets it, nobody understands my rap/I don’t even have bus-fare back to my flat…”And right after that chaotically Hip Hop track, he launches into a melancholy tune titled Adrian’s Ballad, a sweeping ‘true jazz’ ballad in the bluesy mode of Louis Armstrong’s St James Infirmary. What can one say, who is really the judge, who can really claim to be the supreme guru of musical purity?

Crouch is known to be one of the most forceful of jazz purists, even reported to have punched a few people during arguments over his criticism of jazz.

Note these closing statements from the same Jazztimes article:“Even though anything today can be called jazz or mainstream—however improperly—you can be sure that as long as you have musicians like Marsalis, Lovano, Roney, Roberts, Reed, Nash and Payton the music’s true sweep will be carried along and the true believers will not have to ask, “Is that jazz?””(S.C.)

Interestingly, the last musician on this list has also vehemently rejected the term jazz, opting for the more apt BAM: Black American Music. But is it really stilljust an American music, and isn’t it way past the Black and White definitions by now, and why not just call it Fresh Music?

Here’s what I think is a more intelligent choice of words:

“Much of this problem arises from our diversity – and the desire to define everything according to demographics. Like any product in our free market economy – jazz has been codified, classified, and narrowed down to fit a small spectrum of very specific consumers . . . even though the essence of jazz appeals to all demographics by its very nature.

Those that have claimed jazz as their own over the years have managed to extricate it from any cultural relevance, and remove all vestiges of it from popular music. Sadly, this is often done in the name of preservation.” – (By Scott Fugate, in article called Jazz vs. BAM . . . Bridges vs. walls, In defense of America's original, indigenous art form.)

Does it matter whether the two essayists I have quoted are Black or White, does their racial profile determine the objectivity and intelligence of their observations?  At the end of the day, you might find both of them at the same club or in the privacy of their homes, wholeheartedly enjoying the sounds of what most of us consider good music. Some of the tinges in the Fugate playlist may be infused with reggae undertones, while Crouches playlist might have some elements of Madlib’s Hip-Hop fused into it, which is to say that they both can’t still call it fresh, ingenious and enjoyable music.

Yet again, creative artists no longer have to rely on radio or filling stadiums in order to make a decent living, lo and behold, we now have the ultra-efficient and virtual world of the internet. On the net, you can call it what you want, be brilliant or truly shallow, but as long as you can solicit more hits than the intelligent purist, you’re a star and a self-made millionaire.

Menzi Maseko