On Thu, 18 Jan 2001, John Halle wrote:
> In a promo for the series Burns refers to Louis Armstrong as
> "unquestionably the greatest musician of the 20th century."
After Armstrong, the central jazz horn became the saxophone. And IMHO, the current occupant of the Greatest Living Saxophonist chair is David Murray, is who is only in his 40s. He can do many things that neither Parker nor Coltrane could do -- though only, of course, because they preceded him. Sonny Rollins was until recently co-chair, but, as he approaches his 75th birthday, Murray has suppassed him even purely as a saxophonist, if we just count what the two men can do today. And as a bandleader and arranger, none of these guys are in his class -- believe it or not.
When people talk about the shortcomings of jazz, the fact that Murray is not mentioned -- despite having been playing for 25 years, and having made hundreds of albums, and being quite acclaimed among fans -- is the kind of thing people are getting at. Giants like he and Cecil Taylor, geniuses as great as any that ever played, are still playing now. Wynton Marsalis and Stanley Crouch, the guiding lights of Burns's Jazz, are the champions of museum jazz.
Michael __________________________________________________________________________ Michael Pollak................New York City..............mpollak at panix.com