12'l ltc‘ l.isl l: :5 ( )cltilk'l‘ l‘Wll
FEA'll ‘ Rli
DO THE JAZZ THING
Bleelt Gilliam (Denzel Washington) falls in love with schoolteacher ln
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acatlcmic ncyy tratlititinalist stancc c \cmiililictl mtist clcarly by thc t‘s‘lls yytii h tilthc \larsalis brtithcrs.
\Vith lrcc‘s butltltly Branltirtl .\larsalis‘s tluaitct prtiyitling much til thc .stiuntltrack music. llls tlrummcr clcll "lain‘ \Vatts making his acting tlcbut as thc mtiyic liantl's sticlxsman. and thc ccntral Blcck (iilliam charactcr ( althtiugh his playing is prtiyitlctl by antitlicr y tiung litin. 'lcrcncc Blanchard) rcminisccnt in attitutlc antl tlcmcantiur tti thc mtist scritius til thc \larsalis clan. trumpctcr \‘i'ynttin. 'l‘tigcthcr thc \larsalis siblings. yyhtisc albums arc amting thc nitist critically praisctl tiltiurtimc. stantl ltira tlisciplinctl stucly antl immcrsitin in thc mastcrstil jazz. histtiry tti thus kccp aliyc antl ctintinuc tti tlcycltip thc natiyc black Amcrican artltirm.
A glancc at thc slccyc ntitcs til thcir albums rcycals thc stcrnncss til thcir /cal. ('ritic Stanlcy (‘rtiuch‘s’ yytirtls tin thc 1985 \Vynttin tillcring li’lut‘k ('titlt’s From Na 1 ’nt/t’rgrtiit/it/ is highly typical. ‘Wynttin \larsalis sccs thc prcscnt prtiblcmf (‘rtiuch csiilains. ‘as tinc in which ttiti many hayc chtiscn tti bc nti mtirc than bartinictcrs tir trcntls. ntit intliyitluals making tlicir tiyy it way and cxpantling thc cxprcssitin til human intimacy as thcy mtiyc. . . Marsalis yyants tti iiiakc music in kccpingyyith thc yytirltl—spiritctl itiy antl scritiusncss til Armstrting. lillingttin. l’arlx'cr. .\ltink. (‘tiltrancx In his mind thc prcssurc til ctimmcrcialism is antithcr ltirm til black ctitlcs. tinc that rctluccs all musicians tti highly-paitl but ltiyy—gratlc plantatitin cntcrtaincrs. rcgai'tllcss til rztcctit‘itlitim.‘
Such scrmtinising scry cs tti clucitlatc thc prtiblcm l.cc atlrcsscs in .llti' lft'ttt'r H/llt’,\. 'l‘hat jazz is sccn tti hayc bcctimc intcllcctuali/ctl tti thc
digo Downcs (JoieLi3tii.
titiint \yhcrc tlic blacl; .-\nicrican ctiit‘iinuni‘ty titini which it sprang ltay t; ntiyy lit- ct inic alicnatctl lititii it. .la/x. has bcctimc a music lislcnctl tti lat gcii 'rii tlic yyhitc mitltllc classcs. \\ liil: lnii litip has ‘taltt a ti\ cr tlic rtilc it tincc hatl as thc \tiitgc til ;\lrtim-\mcrican scllécstccm. a tii‘tit‘css tlissiiiatmc black :\mcrican ayyarcncsstilthcirtiyyncultural acctiiniilishmcnt. ‘l‘m sicl\ antl tirctl til lilay in: it» cycrytinc but my tiyy l! tit-tiiilc.‘ \‘y'asliingttin's charactcr l’ilcck sighs at tinc tit iint in llic ititiy la". ‘lhcy tltin't ctimc tint. \\ t tltin‘t suiiiitirt l‘lll iyi, ll. lll hatl tti rcly tin niggcrs tticat. l‘tl staiyc tti tlcatlt. .la// is tiur music. but wt; tltint \lll‘lltll t it In tlic samc \yay that llti '//tt' Rig/11 Nanak \ltitikic thrtiyys tlic trashcan tlllllUL'll lhc \yintlt . l.cc's art is nitirc abtiut tlic tlticstitin tlian tlic ansyyciz yct hcrc tlic stitintltraclt' at icast tillci st ntgyy ainirtiach. \Vllllc‘ thc in c\. itius lilin liatl l’ul iic lincniy 's l'lLf/lll Hit' /’tiit't'i' lcatttrt: l-‘iranltirtl \lai'saliss sas tiy t;i tlic ttiii til tlicir llllll:;k nt saniiilctl tlirtili.l cc cntls l/ti' /i't'l/t'.*' /")i,l(t'\ xy llll 't liiii litip traclt clcarly intt‘ntlctl tti bi itlgc tlic yayy ning gitii lictyyccn lilacls' .-\mcrican y tiuth anti tlic ia// tratlititin. ( iang Starr‘sltug Hang has tltt rapiicr giy ing thc Kids a titittctl runtltiyy n tin tlic music. i‘ciilctc \y itli l‘li’anltirtl again antl \;lllll‘lc\ galtirc lrtim ( ‘harlic l’;ti‘l\'ci‘ antl léillic l ltilitlay, It‘s a intiyc in \\ hat ctiultl bc a li uitlul tlii'cctitin tlitiugli yy c‘ll tinly ltirgiy c liim ltir rliy mini; ‘( )i‘ncttc ( ‘tilcman‘ \y itli ‘stiul inan' ilsalcstil //ni Is (1112‘ .l/itsit'shtiyy a sutltlcn upturn.
.l/U‘ Ht’llt‘l' H/IUW (/5) (}/)('H\ t(/ ///l('{ (i/\ l'.tli/i/iit/'g/i tmt/ ( '/.\ tic/itt/i/t lrtim /"/‘l /,‘ t }t Hit' stilt/it/H‘ttt‘lt ls tii‘tu/tt/i/t' tut (' 'li’S rt't‘tirt/s. til/a" I/it' ttt't'tint/uniting lam/t /i_\ S/il'ltt' /.t't' tt/ttt’ /./\ti x't ult'i /’lt/>/is/It't/ /i_\ Sinai/1th Sc/iits/t'rttl{UK/5. [mm/t hails/ti \ li’lttt'A \tll/tUltl/HNI and [la lt’t'i ti/itz't'tin {It l/H'ilt'lh[)H/lr/[h/lt't/bl/)(1///t'lls’l(/t'i"/)H'\\t