[Qwjyrgij]

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[beethyday]

I personally don't think that there's anything wrong with someone devoting time and energy to playing music that they genuinely love. I'm sure there's hundreds of people who play just like Buddy Holly right now but 1 - you don't really have to practice a few hours a day to sound like that and 2 - everyone's already heard Buddy Holly a million times. Also, that sad fact is probably that being a Buddy Holly impersonator in any given city is probably still more lucrative than being the most promenent jazz musician.
Plus, let's not forget that "free jazz" is almost 50 years old now too, so is everyone that plays free just imitating Jimmy Lyons or Sunny Murray ?
That being said, it seems that your problem is that one form of jazz is more popular than others, and man, we're the bottom of the barrel down here. Anyone that wants to be a "jazz" musician knows what they're getting into and top-to-bottom jazz popularity is just nickels and dimes so if someone gets to be king of the shithouse then good for them !
If anyone wants to be a big man they should go to Stanford Business School instead of bragging like a bottle collector who made 40 bucks in a week but whos bottles are better quality than the guy who made 80.
As far as the Vancouver scene goes, I'm still relatively new to it but it seems better than most places to me - far better in fact than any other place of comparable size. At least there's jazz at the jazz festival which is more than can be said for most, and a wide range of musicians sincerely perfoming the music that they love - and I myself don't love all types of jazz but you can't fault someone for playing soemthing that's really hard on a very high level.
If someone can play like Sonny Stitt,or JImmy Lyons, or Vladimir Horowitz, or Wayne Gretzky I think it's worth a lot more than just money or popularity, neither of which may ever be awarded.
The audience is in your head.

[medio]

Well, call him crazy or whatever, I gotta say, I thoroughly enjoy Darrell's presence here. Cuts through the smugness of the Vancuver scene like hot knife through butter. The man says what's on his mind. Though most of the folks he slags are at least acquaintences of mine, I gotta give props to my man Darrell!

[medio]

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[beethyday]

Morgan,
I don't think that sort of thing is really relevant.
If that was the case Kenny G could just come here and invalidate absolutely everything that anyone has ever written.

[beethyday]

There's a famous story from the Montreal festival - a famous guy shacked up with a woman in Montreal for a year and after having played all the huge shows wanted a gig with his own project (with musicians from elsewhere). They said sure man here's (equivanent of Granville Island stage) and that since he was a "local" now that's all they could give him.
I think Coastal does a pretty good job, and probably a great one given the financial circumstances.

[PapsEdisa]

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[Knillagrarp]

Cem said:
"Cuts through the smugness of the Vancuver scene like hot knife through butter. The man says what's on his mind. Though most of the folks he slags are at least acquaintences of mine, I gotta give props to my man Darrell!"


Cem, do me a favour and take a long swim in the ocean. Seriously.

[medio]

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[Plonnikas]

To actually say - 'Sorry man, did I forget to backslap some of the old boys. Well, John, I find much of the Vancouver scene just a little too self satisfied, at times' - implies you believe that the musicians on Darrells' aforementioned flight path are deserving of the slaying that they have recieved from him in his original post.
If that's your contention Cem - I'll take exception to that. I'll say for the record that I felt Darrell's post was more full of misconceptions and assumptions based on misinformation. I've contacted him and discussed that with him, I for one would like to know what you did.

Rather than sit there and try to justify a 'drive by' why don't you have a careful read through some of Brad's recent posts, if you can't read in those that he's been affected in a personal way, then there's something wrong with you. Nothing positive comes from this, except that you learn who your friends are.

[PapsEdisa]

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[rockboyzaza]

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[metrocartockasur]

Hey !!

This is only the comics section of the parish newsletter, isn't it ?

"...Brad came with this wimpy sax player JUNO AWARD WINNING Phil Dwyer and they were billed as some of CANADA'S BEST JAZZ MUSICIANS. Brad did me the great honor of shaking my hand before he sat down to the piano and read the sheet music for some lame-ass tune from some Broadway musical from like 50 years ago. I left less than half way through this pathetic rendition in a state of shock and embarrassment. I went home and learned the tune in 10 minutes on a Baroque flute which was sufficient because it was totally in a major key with not ONE ACCIDENTAL..."

I couldn't read any of that without cracking up. How anyone could possibly take it seriously as opinion with any weight or value just beats me, chaps. 'Give the boy more rope,' I thought, 'This kid needs no-one else's help to become the court fool. He can do it all alone.'

Terrible news that Cam and Brad are cut by something so patently risible. Hope that Phil doesn't feel as bad. Applying the adjective "wimpy" to him turned the entire text into something so immediately outrageous it was as if it was coming from the 'Ali G' of jazz - i.e. it might be good for a laugh but hardly the sort of thing we want to take at all seriously as pretending to be informed critical opinion. So please don't be hurt by this nonsense - don't give it undue value like that. It's harmless enough. Wear it with pride.

Just like Çem, however, there was still a luxuriance and exuberance to the original invective that I found singularly refreshing. I might not have chosen to express myself in the same way but, reading the line "Cuts through the smugness of the Vancuver scene like hot knife through butter. The man says what's on his mind.", rang a lot of welcome bells for me personally – and, mark you well, also like Çem I’ll bet, none of them had anything remotely to with endorsing the vapid opinions of Zimmerman re Turner, Ryga and Dwyer.

[Plonnikas]

What bothers me isn't the Darrell Zimmerman's, it's the Cem Zula's of the world. At least Darrell speaks from what he feels is an honest place. I not at all thrilled with what he's got to say but I'll grant him his opinion.

It's these smarmy hidden attitudes that come to light as a result of a guy who at the very least has the balls to speak his mind - rightly or wrongly, which certainly isn't for me to decide.

If that's really the way you felt Cem and you decide to exercie a public statement of fact as you see it, why didn't YOU say it in the first fucking place? And again - it's not even WHAT you said - it's WHY you said it.
I can assume only that the best thing that's ever happened to you is the arrival of Darrell Zimmerman, and in MY opinion, that's really too bad.

[medio]

Lazz is right. I'm not interested in agreeing/disagreeing with any drive by or cutting anyone down. There's some truth in everything he's said, but most importantly, I like to see things discussed a little more out of the comfort zone. Btw, in case you hadn't noticed, as anyone who knows me will tell you, that I respect Brad and have presented him many times --including tonight.

Cam, I think you need to give up this fantasy of players & others in the scene having to watch each others' backs, circling wagons etc., as they might do in a sorority, fraternity or old boys' network. We're not in high school, prison or the mob, either. Big boys & girls can take care of themselves.

Also, please stop making assumptions about what I may be thinking. I say what I think and feel (more than the average person), but when there's room for interpretation, some folks tend to work it towards their weaknesses. Not my fault or issue.

To reiterate, I'm more interested in folks having the freedom to discuss things as they see it.

[PapsEdisa]

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[PapsEdisa]

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[valiumcheapll]

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