JJ21

You get the genuine article in Jazz Journal, but as it says on page 22 (ish) the editor does not necessarily agree with the views expressed. Here, he's more likely to, and the content is likely to reflect both his tastes and inspirations and, as 'JJ21' might suggest, a view of jazz founded in a youth that saw the late 20th century as a promise of modernity. It didn't work out that way all round, not only for JJ but for the postmodern world (and jazz world) at large. My intuitive sense is that stasis has been the watchword in much jazz for going on three decades. But the hope of musical progress still bubbles under and this blog, aside from general reporting, will remind that there are out there effective musical communicators who seem to keep faith with modernism. Here's a guitarist (of whom Pat Martino said 'that is not guitar') whose career symbolises in large part the hopes and disappointments of recent years.

The wages of modern jazz

Mind you, he was very tired.