Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Do Jazz Critics Need to Know How to Play Jazz?



Boston-based blogger Roanna Forman asked the question to a number of critics whether critics need to know how to play jazz. Here in brief are the first five answers:

1) "The reactions of those who don’t know how to play have value."
2) "I don’t play an instrument."
3) "Musical ability should not be a prerequisite for jazz critics."
4) "I’m more interested in how well they can hear what is happening in a performance."
5) "It’s not absolutely essential for them to be able to play."
Here's the full piece.
Ronan Guilfoyle, one of the people asked, has taken the discussion further, and concludes: "it's a fascinating read for anyone interested in how the music is written about."

I'm wondering what's new to aspire to - apart from gender issues with the pronouns ...- since Bernard Shaw wrote (in 1894): "There are three main qualifications for a musical critic, besides the general qualification of good sense and knowledge of the world. He must have a cultivated taste for music; he must be a skilled writer; and he must be a practised critic. Any of these three may be found without the others; but the complete combination is indispensable to good work."

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