Comments on: More on Entertainment

By: Jason

Jason — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 03:36:44 +0000

Thanks for stopping by, Annette! Hope to see you again.

By: Annette

Annette — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 18:38:49 +0000

I’m glad I followed the links from the All About Jazz Article “Jazz: A Museum Piece or a Living, Breathing Artform? It’s up to Us! ” and found this blog. Good post, Jason, and useful links.

“High art and entertainment are not and should not be made mutually exclusive.” Well said, Michael.

By: Jason

Jason — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 21:09:22 +0000

Great comments, Mike! I appreciate your perspective, as always. And thats one of the reasons I love to work with you. Take the Slava concert, for instance. That was some challenging music, to be sure, but it was presented in a way that was entertaining for the audience. I think the passion that we on the bandstand had for the music translated to the audience. My dad was in the audience and said it was one of his favorite concerts he’s seen me play. That’s high praise!

PS – are the Slava recordings available on the web for people to hear? If not, you should consider uploading them to bandcamp.com or some other site. It’d be cool to let folks check ‘em out.

By: Michael Owcharuk

Michael Owcharuk — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 19:38:05 +0000

I would like to argue that all great art is entertainment and all great entertainment is art. Take the painting Guernica by Picasso. Pretty safe to say that it is a master-work of art. It depicts the bombing of the city of the same name by Italian and German warplanes at the behest of Franco during the Spanish Civil War. Heavy right? Not what you usually consider “entertainment.” But the the drama and violence of the scene communicate and present themselves in a way that engages the audience the same way theater or a serious movie does. Why do we like those types of movies and plays? Because we are entertained by them. They speak to us and our emotions. they make us think and feel something. Entertainment can range from the comic to the deadly serious. The common thread is the conscious, willful, engagement of the audience through the use of some craft. Chris Rock is another good example. Crass entertainment or artfully crafted social commentary? He keeps an audience engaged for 2 hours and makes them think through the most powerful tool of all: laughter. That’s art in my book. High art and entertainment are not and should not be made mutually exclusive. My own musical aesthetic runs along the complex and challenging; “arty” if you will; but I have found that the simple act of putting my work in context for the audience though a related anecdote, an outline of the compositional or performance process, some “clues” to listen for, or just saying: “I don’t know what I was thinking when I wrote this…” makes their concert experience more participatory, more entertaining. They can listen for these things I talked about. They feel connected to me and the band because we shared with them. Everyone wins. And yes, sometimes you just have to rock out that Bb7.

By: Jason

Jason — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 08:46:23 +0000

Thanks for sharing, Andy. Great story!

By: Andy

Andy — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 04:44:47 +0000

I came up to Geoffrey Keezer after seeing him play with the Christian McBride Band. I told him what a great time I had and how great it was to see a jazz musician (I am one too) look like he’s having fun onstage and not taking it so damn seriously. He said, “How can you be serious about Bb7?” He’s the man.