Totally agree. I didn't bring this subject up for any schoolground "yahh yahh' type jeering. I was just fascinated by the publicly voiced opinion of a 'jazz professional' about a fellow musician. Which, as Nachoman and Tengu01 quite rightly point out, says more about the public - the listener in the street - and their preferences. If you ever get the chance, in the pub or at work or wherever, ask someone who isn't particularly 'into' music to name a sax player, see what they come up with. Conversely, ask them to name a jazz guitarist. Hmmm.
Sadly, I have played plenty of pub jazz gigs where there has been more of us in the band than in the room. If I might say so, this is not due to the quality of musicianship as I have been lucky enough to have always worked with some extremely fine players. More often than not, it's the choice of venue and the general 'dislike' for what one punter described as 'twiddly music'. I know there are other threads on the subject, but Kenny has found a middle ground that works for the masses. The amount of times I've heard people say to me "OOH I love the SOUND of the sax" (!) to them, it's just that - a texture; an image. They care nothing for the hundreds of hours we might put in doing a double descending tri-tone/ chromatic run, but they will stand and cheer if we play a high note for 60 seconds ! And, after all, if we are in music to make a living then we have to consider the listening audience which has moved on a very long way since the smoky days of Wardour Street clubs. It's showbiz, and that's all about bums on seats and record sales. "High-brow" jazz is a 'specialist' area usually found next to "world music / other" in records shops. Just past the bargain bins, folk section and film soundtracks. That's because that's how the masses percive it.
Any doubts I had about Mr G were blown away when I heard his version of Summertime with George Benson. A very accomplished performance, delivered sensitively and with a good deal of 'jazz vocabulary'. I guess you have to learn the rules in order to know how to break them. However, I don't really like 'the sound' of the soprano much. To me it's like trying to fall asleep with a fly in the room.
Anyway, that's my tuppenceworth.
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