Looooooong piece here about the writer's process as he reviewed the new Kamasi Washington album. Is it correct to focus on the music in isolation, or must a reviewer take into account the broader...
Looooooong piece here about the writer's process as he reviewed the new Kamasi Washington album. Is it correct to focus on the music in isolation, or must a reviewer take into account the broader context?
I haven't heard the new album yet, but as an experienced jazz listener I was quite underwhelmed by Kamasi's previous album The Epic, even as it brought droves of new listeners into the world of jazz. (Incidentally, a similar dynamic seems to be playing out on youtube with Ryo Fukui's Scenery album, which IMO is totally "meh.") I think I'm ok with it as long as the jazz newcomers continue to explore, and recognize that Kamasi, Fukui, Whiplash, Kind of Blue, Time Out, and other "Jazz 101" albums are where an exploration of jazz starts, and not where it ends.
It's funny you mention this. I remember I found this album pretty deep in YouTube a few years ago, and at the time it had a fairly low view count. Now it's got over 6 million views? What...
a similar dynamic seems to be playing out on youtube with Ryo Fukui's Scenery album
It's funny you mention this. I remember I found this album pretty deep in YouTube a few years ago, and at the time it had a fairly low view count. Now it's got over 6 million views? What happened?? (I do enjoy the album, though)
edit: replied to the post instead of the comment, woops lmao
Youtube's algorhythm latched onto it and now it's shown as a recommendation to anyone watching any sort of jazz-related video. I think the cool album cover leads to a greater percentage of clicks...
Youtube's algorhythm latched onto it and now it's shown as a recommendation to anyone watching any sort of jazz-related video. I think the cool album cover leads to a greater percentage of clicks than most jazz albums, and the algorhythm took over from there. And 40 years after it was released, Scenery is having its cultural moment. Now you have a situation where noobs are claiming it's a lost jazz masterpiece, writing breathless blog posts and reposting it once a week on /r/jazz and /r/vinyl, while more experienced listeners (jazz snobs) are replying with bewilderment while trying to explain "this doesn't swing" and "go listen to Bill Evans for the real deal." Very similar to the Kamasi situation, and the reaction to the Whiplash movie a couple of years ago too.
Definitely seems like that particular video got some kind of freaky favoritism from the YouTube algorithm. Doesn't hurt that the thumbnail is DAMN eye-catching.
Definitely seems like that particular video got some kind of freaky favoritism from the YouTube algorithm. Doesn't hurt that the thumbnail is DAMN eye-catching.
Looooooong piece here about the writer's process as he reviewed the new Kamasi Washington album. Is it correct to focus on the music in isolation, or must a reviewer take into account the broader context?
I haven't heard the new album yet, but as an experienced jazz listener I was quite underwhelmed by Kamasi's previous album The Epic, even as it brought droves of new listeners into the world of jazz. (Incidentally, a similar dynamic seems to be playing out on youtube with Ryo Fukui's Scenery album, which IMO is totally "meh.") I think I'm ok with it as long as the jazz newcomers continue to explore, and recognize that Kamasi, Fukui, Whiplash, Kind of Blue, Time Out, and other "Jazz 101" albums are where an exploration of jazz starts, and not where it ends.
It's funny you mention this. I remember I found this album pretty deep in YouTube a few years ago, and at the time it had a fairly low view count. Now it's got over 6 million views? What happened?? (I do enjoy the album, though)
edit: replied to the post instead of the comment, woops lmao
Youtube's algorhythm latched onto it and now it's shown as a recommendation to anyone watching any sort of jazz-related video. I think the cool album cover leads to a greater percentage of clicks than most jazz albums, and the algorhythm took over from there. And 40 years after it was released, Scenery is having its cultural moment. Now you have a situation where noobs are claiming it's a lost jazz masterpiece, writing breathless blog posts and reposting it once a week on /r/jazz and /r/vinyl, while more experienced listeners (jazz snobs) are replying with bewilderment while trying to explain "this doesn't swing" and "go listen to Bill Evans for the real deal." Very similar to the Kamasi situation, and the reaction to the Whiplash movie a couple of years ago too.
Definitely seems like that particular video got some kind of freaky favoritism from the YouTube algorithm. Doesn't hurt that the thumbnail is DAMN eye-catching.