Jazz Canada 1986

Following the Arts Jazz Canada 1986 "True jazz - what the musicians recognize as their music - rarely achieves more than a modest popularity." So says James Collier in what is arguably the best history of the music, The Making ofJazz. (Delta, 1975). This ignorance of the general public and the consequent lack of audience have plagued jazz from its beginnings; indeed, the very name carries connotations that have little to do with the music, so that few people, beyond the real students and cognoscenti of jazz, seldom know what "true jazz" sounds like. The label ofjazz is often attached to all kinds of popular music. The true audience and musicians are dissatisfied with the label of "jazz" and now it is often referred to as "black classical music" or "Afro-American music," even though it remains firmly fixed in the minds of the vast majority of people and in the media at large as a superficial music to be relegated to late nights and suspiciously sleazy places, somehow connected with unsavoury elements. That view still has some truth to it, of course, because it is essentially a spontaneous performance which seems always to be done at an informal, even ad hoe level. It relies for its life-blood on continual refreshment and on continual stretch and search in live settings, usually far removed from the disciplined formality of classical concerts. So jazz is still dependent to some extent on the jazz club, even though the music is now played in concert halls and college auditoria, and is studied in schools, colleges , and universities both in academic and performance classes. This dependence on clubs holds true in Canada, but the sad fact is that the jazz club life has been seriously diminishing over the past two or three years in this country. To take an example, the jazz club scene in a city the size of Toronto is disastrously sketchy. Only a few years back, it was possible to hear jazz played Journal of Canadian Studies Vol. 22. No. I (Pri11te111p.1· 1987 Spring) either by well-known visiting musicians or by Canadians in a variety ofclubs corresponding to the wide variety of styles in which jazz can be played. Nowadays it is difficult to find a club functioning . on a serious and continuing basis. Jazz musicians in the city complain bitterly about the scarcity of opportunities to play their music. There are a few makeshift sessions, which may offer some experience of genuine creativity, but jazz by its very nature of mixing the individual with the collective endeavour demands some stability of personnel and perhaps place. George's Spaghetti House, as it has done for years now, still functions as a club featuring Canadian musicians. What seems to be the only persisting venue for visiting musicians in the city is the small bistro in the St. Lawrence market district, the Cafe des Copains, which for more than two years has managed to offer solo jazz piano performances by a remarkable range of players week by week. It may be that many of these jazz pianists are unknown to the general public, but I suspect that quite a few of the diners at the cafe find the music satisfying even though they may not have made any particular effort to search it out. But the bistro obviously does attract many jazz fans and musicians - that mix of addicts and casual visitors has probably kept this series going. Interestingly, a larger public (though "larger" in this context is something of a misnomer) can sample the music and atmosphere of the Cafe des Copains' music, as in 1986 a new record company based in Toronto, Unisson Records, issued two albums of performances taped at the cafe, albums suggesting the range of pianists booked in. One is by Dick Wellstood, a musician rooted in a traditional style of playing, stride, and Harlem piano. But Wellstood is no archaic archivist of that music; he will inject modern stylings inside the traditional mode and will play occasional contemporary songs in that older way, paradoxically revealing in the process the 129 melodic strengths of those songs. Wellstood approaches the music with great good humour but the listener is...