On Fri, 28 Jun 2002 11:22:36 -0500 Robert Pleshar wrote:
Should we expect Brotzmann, Parker, et al to do anything different really? Why? It's true that when they started they were breaking new ground and that "free-jazz" is as solidified of a genre as hard-bop or trad or whatever, but so what? Dizzy Gillespie did his thing his whole life, why should it be different for Evan Parker or Mick Jagger? Can't we just say Brotzmann is a great free-jazz stylist and his style is popular?
In fact, the artists themselves are quite reluctant to speak of breakthroughs (I am thinking of the ones who have been around for a while). It is usually the fans/reviewers who keep on bringing that (there was a time when it was impossible to read a review of a William Parker record without the mention that he was pushing the limits even further...). As if it was shameful to listen to music that does not shutter previous work :-). The irony is that putting TOPOGRAPHY OF THE LUNGS on a turntable makes you wonder how much improv has really pushed the limits in the past 30 years... It is almost as if everything was already there with this 1970 LP. Patrice.