[78-L] Jazz as Dance Music - slightly off topic

[Julian Vein]

Tim Huskisson wrote:
> I have always believed that Jazz lost its mass appeal after the Swing Era -
> not because of the melodic and harmonic technicalities of the Bop and modern
> styles that followed, but because you couldn't dance to it. The best DANCE
> music has always had a strong rhythmic pulse - usually played, but sometimes
> just felt. At the peak of the Swing era, it was the norm for drummers to
> play their bass drum '4 in the bar'. That, synchronised with the same rule
> for bass players and guitarists, resulted in a very strong rhythmic pulse -
> great to dance to! Many would argue that pioneer Bop drummers such as Kenny
> Clarke and Max Roach freed drummers from this constraint; and yes, the
> playing may have became more creative, but at a great cost to the popularity
> of Jazz. 
> In the late 1970s / early-1980s there was a resurgence of dancing to Jazz
> that was not simply a revival of an earlier musical style. In the UK it was
> known as 'Jazz-Funk'. I can remember seeing masses of people dancing to
> music that quite often featured extended Jazz soloing on top of the
> contemporary dance 'beat' of the day. Few really listened to or understood
> the Jazz content, and most were only too happy to dance to its infectious
> beat. But wasn't that also true of those who danced to the music of the
> Swing era?
> 
> Tim Huskisson
==========================
Unfortunately, bop drummers were less adventurous than their 
predecessors. For example, listen to some Charlie Parker Savoys with Max 
Roach and Tommy Potter. Not a very inspired sound, and no sense of 
occasion by the drummer--just a loping, cowboy-type beat. But then Roach 
wasn't the most imaginative of drummers. Perhaps that's what the music 
required.

      Julian Vein


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