Hello, all. One of these days, I intend to put up links to a bunch of musician websites. I’ve been looking at several of them lately.
A couple of sites really impressed me. Perhaps not surprisingly, they were from two of my favorite musicians: Chick Corea and John McLaughlin. These two have had amazing lives. It astonishes me that they have the energy to put together such wonderful websites with the torrid pace of their creation in the world of music.
I’m also amazed by what genuinely nice guys these two men seem to be, especially Chick. It almost makes me ashamed and guilty about having anything less than nice to say about their music. (Well, alright, there’s no “almost” about it.) Well, the problem is that it’s my job to criticize music, for better or worse. And if I’m a little caustic and rude, it’s mostly because it makes the writing more entertaining for my readers. At least I hope so. When I’m reading criticism, I enjoy a little snarky attitude from the writer.
Let me just say to all you musicians out there that it’s not personal. (Yeah, right. Creating art is about the most personal thing you can do. So, if I make fun of someone’s music, it’s a little like saying they have an ugly baby. Sigh.)
Well, let’s put it this way. My goal is to point fellow jazz lovers towards the best music I can, and hopefully entertain them at the same time. With any luck, I’ll point them to music they wouldn’t have heard of otherwise. And best of all, if someone buys a CD because I recommended it, the artists who created the music will make a few pennies from the purchase. It’s the least I can do for the great musicians of the world. Without music, and art in general, this world would not be worth living in, at least for me.
So, I guess what I’m really getting around to, in my long winded way, is saying “Thanks, Chick Corea, John McLaughlin, and all of the other wonderful musicians out there.” They make beautiful music, and I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that they seem to be pretty nice people, too.