>
> > 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
>
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