"The main danger of the whole business of swinging the classics lies in the fact that jazz is laying itself open to an accusation that it lacks new material of its own and is obliged to draw on these themes. Nothing could be further from the truth. Jazz does not need the classics any more than the classics need jazz".
[Leonard Feather - NYTimes, May 18, 1941]
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Thank you, Leonard, for explaining that all to us. The question not asked in the last sentences might have been, "Does music need Mr. Feather?" Or is that too ungenerous?
ResponderEliminarFaithfully yours,
Michael Steinman
From Donald Clarke:
ResponderEliminar"What a piece of ancient history. The fad was almost entirely due to the squabble with ASCAP and the need to find material that was out of copyright, and the results were good or bad depending on what the arranger did with it. Trust Leonard to put on a po face."