Consider, for a moment, how true that is - and how completely it applies to other forms of literature. If you were presented with a novel, for example, and told that it was a work of art, but only in English, what would you think of that? Would it strike you as worth the trouble of reading? (Folks, even Finnegans Wake, that most specialized and hypernuanced work of the English language, has been translated into at least 10 other languages.)
It only makes sense that the same would be true for music: that the test of a truly viable and durable piece of music is whether it can be translated into a different musical language than its source. (If you doubt that principle, I have three words for you: Switched On Bach.) A great work can survive all the exaggeration, distortion, or subversion of its by-the-book composition. Even though he wrote for specific musicians in a specific idiom, Duke Ellington's work is still viable when it's arranged for the Boston Pops orchestra, or by Phillip Glass.
Giddins, however, suggests that this is not true of Mingus: he means to suggest that Willner's arrangements disrespect Mingus, but what he really says is that Mingus's work can't survive being reshaped by Hal Willner. How depressing.
But overall, this isn't about Giddins, or about Mingus, or even about Hal Willner. It's a question of whether jazz music is really viable music. If you suppose that jazz composition is only viable when it's performed by a jazz band, well, then, you're saying that jazz is fairly one-dimensional. As is any other music that's unsuccessful outside of its home base.
If that's true, why bother listening to it? Such music really isn't terribly good, is it?
Article comments
1 - Mark Saleski
great stuff michael. i really love this record. it comes at the material from such an odd angle that it's almost possible to forget it's Mingus...somehow, that doesn't seem like a bad thing to me.
and hey! congrats on the Jazztimes gig. fantastic news there for sure!
2 - Pico
Whoa, I wasn't aware of this Willner project, that sounds fascinating to say the least. Imagine all the trivia quesetions that baby could spin off! I will soon remedy this gaping hole in my jazz collection.
And a thoughtful essay on the whole idea of interpreting other people's works in a different musical language; I couldn't agree more.
Big props on the Jazztimes stint. You are amply prepared for that.