What's really
interesting is the people who they would claim were making the jazz that "everybody" would be playing in the future -- Tristano, Ornette etc, which is to say people whose influence is felt a lot less than that of the 1950's Miles bands.
And ofcourse, speaking of 50's Miles: nowadays most people know about Miles records from 1956 on (that's after the heroin addiction). So the knowledge of the 1949-1955 period is spotty to say the least: birth of the cool, walkin' and the two Blue Note albums will be best known to most of us. The bulk of the 'prestige' recordings just lies there. While the critical assumption of this day is, that many early Miles albums are 'uneven', it made them lesser known over the years, too.
I'm sure we will laugh in 20 years about the critics inaccurate/poor assesments of current geniuses. Some would say that said geniuses don't exist. Will they eat their words?
It can all be camouflaged under the 'not my taste anyway' banner. I listen to people who explain why they don't like Coltrane, think the Beatles are overrated, or try to make the point that funk musicians can't write proper songs. It's great to find counter examples in a discussion, but it is also great to learn something for yourself, from different lines of thinking. Regards, Remco Takken