Okay I promised to name my next five on my last post, but wandering the halls of YouTube today, I came across this really cool video.
The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, otherwise known as “Jazz Fest,” is a 10-day cultural feast. The music encompasses every style associated with the city.
This year’s Fest was held April 25 through May 4th.
To begin with: notice the difference between FAVORITE and BEST. Very different but possibly the same musician.
I know they’re meaningless and competition as to whose the ‘best’ is the opposite of what ‘art’ is supposedly all about …. BUT (you knew that was coming)- it’s fun. Why be accurate when fun is possible.
Also lisiting or ranking people is stimulating and at the very least causes people to make and defend their choices. Here’s the point - there is absolutley no way to prove Art Tatum is a better jazz piano player than Bill Evans or Monk. It’s like trying to prove Mickey Mantle is better than Willie Mays (that’s for tomorrow!) but it’s fun and I am going to try and list my top 10 jazz piano players from the inception of jazz until the present and I will begin to post my selections tomorrow June 3rd .
So sleep on it and pick your top 10 ( as many as you feel strongly about and do the same). Throughout the summer we’ll try and go through all the instuments and then, to get real sick and anal( see now you’re getting to know me) we’ll try to pick our favorite records/LP/CD/performances ect.
