Thursday, July 10, 2008
A Personal Revelation: My Big Four
In anticipation of Friday's Stevie Wonder show, I've been thinking about the musical artists that have probably made the biggest impacts in the past three and a half decades or so of listening closely and in term of my view of music and the world. Here is the Pantheon short list, my gang of four and it might surprise some folks: Herbie Hancock, Miles Davis, Quincy Jones and Stevie Wonder.
Why these folks and not James Brown, Ray Charles, George Clinton, Joe Strummer, The Beatles, Gil Scott Heron, Roy Ayers, Rickie Lee Jones, et al.? I think it has to do with the the fact that the artists listed above made contributions with significant shifts in style and exploration they made in developing their art form more frequently than some of the other artists I mention here.
And a listener, if they are really listening, can't help but make that shift with them that transformation with them. Are you really a Miles fan if you only play Kind of Blue? Can you dig Herbie both funketeer and classic jazz pianist accompanying the likes of Miles and Wayne Shorter. And Q deserves respect even if some of his enterprises cloy of self-conscious pop juggernaut: I say they are always worth checking out. Stevie Wonder's personal transformation from precocious baby Ray novelty to major artist is one of the great stories of our time. Lots of us feel we made the journey with him somehow.,
In all four of these artists I am finding I have a personal story and layers of appreciation of their artform over the years. I am collecting my anecdotes and critical journeys of this time and relationship. This may be a part of a long project or simply will only turn into some pools and wells that will surface from time to time in this buffet. Who knows? But the discovery of this pattern and the level of significance of my personal relationship with these folks will be something I am going to take some time and energy to explore.
posted by well-executed buffet at 11:03 PM
Comments:
Hi Bob:
I look forward to reading your explanations as to why you chose these four. As for me, Miles is the
major force on the list, but Herbie is not far behind. I just haven't paid enough attention to Quincy or Stevie over the years to know where you're going with it. Does your list not seem a little jazz/funk/R&B heavy? I mean, you're thinking 1970 onward, but these 4 cats feel very much in the same musical realm to me. Couldn't Bowie make the list? Or Patti Smith? Or Iggy? Or Lou Reed?
You've got me thinkerin'...
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I look forward to reading your explanations as to why you chose these four. As for me, Miles is the
major force on the list, but Herbie is not far behind. I just haven't paid enough attention to Quincy or Stevie over the years to know where you're going with it. Does your list not seem a little jazz/funk/R&B heavy? I mean, you're thinking 1970 onward, but these 4 cats feel very much in the same musical realm to me. Couldn't Bowie make the list? Or Patti Smith? Or Iggy? Or Lou Reed?
You've got me thinkerin'...
