P.O. Box 240 Ojai, Calif. Jgiiszletter 93024-0240 November 1993 V01. 12 No. 11 a sports car; and one who acts like me or like you; who has girls, Re O.R white girls, colored girls, Chinese and Hawaiian and German and Many people have written or called me to ask whether I know French, you know? They don’t have that in the movies, so I anything about the condition of Oscar Peterson. don’t go . I have a funny feeling all day after I’ve seen a As you may have heard, Oscar suffered a stroke a few movie with the same white problems. You know, full of girls months ago at the Blue Note in New York. He told me later with long hair and where everybody’s having a lot of fun, and We that he felt his left hand going numb. Ray Brown said to him don’t have any fun. You don’t see any Negroes. It makes me after a set, "You sound as if you can’t feel the keys." feel funny . ' "I can’t," Oscar said. He went home to Canada for medical When the book was published, Miles was at the peak of his ‘aatment and approached the problem of recovering as he does power and talent and fame, one of the great artists of jazz, and erything: with will. he could have all the girls he wanted, including French: he had A few days before these three issues went to press, I spoke been through a love affair with Juliette Greco. But the movies to Oscar on the telephone. The use of his left hand is returning, still made him feel funny. and he’s playing. He can comp with that hand, and even the Randy Weston tells Taylor, who has just referred to jan as double octaves are coming back. An amazing man. ‘our music‘: ‘We don’t control anything. We should control our own Jazz Black and VVhite press. We have to depend upon the white status quo to judge us and gauge us with everything from polls to popularity contests Part II ' to decide who gets this, who gets five stars, who gets one star. It is a widespread belief among blacks that they understand I mean it’s a combination of all these factors. And again, the white society, because they work in it, serve it, cook for it, wait reason behind it all is racism.‘ on it, carry its bags, know its kitchens and parlors and porches; He is wrong of course. It is not racism. It is greed. but white society does not tmderstand them. The latter is true. Weston too is proprietary about jazz. He says, ‘I look upon White society does not know black society. But the former is this music as our folk music, as the folk music of the Afro- not true: blacks do not understand white society either. American, this music we call jun.‘ This becomes evident when you read the book Notes and And then the paradox: he is proud of being an American, Tones, a series of interviews compiled by drummer Arthur repeating the cliche that imperceptibly eroded our souls in Taylor and published, apparently at his own expense, in 1977. Canada when we overheard it, the perpetual propaganda that the £11; first significant thing one notices is that not one of the jazz United States is the greatest country on earth. In an age of icians Taylor interviewed is white. He evidently was not instant global electronic communications — on the Larry King interested in what white musicians think, perhaps does not even show recently, there was a call from South Africa — Americans, consider them jazz musicians. He repeatedly asks the subjects including Bill Clinton, still do not understand how insulting that if they are more comfortable being interviewed by him, a black claim is to everyone else. Weston says, ‘Our music is so musician, as opposed, we must presume — although he never powerful, so domineering. It is the whole source of creativity of says so — to some journalist, probably white. Predictably, they the greatest country in the world.‘ all tell him what he wants to hear: yes. In 1961 in New York, when I had left Down Beat and was A certain frustrated bafflement infuses these interviews. desperately short of money, I foundout fast, who my friends Musician after musician thinks the white business world is were: those who remained friendly when I could, apparently, no wicked, exploitative, corrupt. But many of them do not begin to longer give them publicity. One of them was Philly Joe Jones, grasp the scope of the evil, and the book reveals nothing so who urged me to come and live in his house until I got straight. much as the width and depth of the chasm between white and I never forgot it. And so I am not surprised when he, first, black society in America. describes the racism of white southerners in the Los Angeles Taylor asks Miles Davis, ‘Do you have any particular Police Department, then says, ‘I meet beautiful people all over hobbies?‘ the world, and when I’m talking to them, I don’t think about Miles says, ‘Making fun of white folks on television.‘ color.‘ Then Miles gets to the effect of ubiquitous imagery on the Ron Carter is a gusher of sunlit insights into the situation of psyche. He says, ‘I can’t stand those white movies about white jazz in white America, including this one: ‘All of a sudden, problems. I’d like to see a movie dealing with Negroes as black studies programs have been getting hot . Two things human beings, not just a black maid and a doctor. I’d like to disturb me. Number one, in the black studies programs they’re see one in everyday life . like an executive, or the head of a interested in art, drama, playwriting, poetry, and dance. No one company. One who falls in love and out of love; one who drives mentions music, though music is the black man’s only contribu- tion to the United States besides slave labor. Right? The other But the people that control the business we’re in are mean. thing is that when a college is besieged by so-called militant They tell you, you can work and you can’t work. They control black students and liberal white students to get a black studies the unions; they control the agencies; they own the joints; they program going, they grab the first black cat they see, hoping he own the magazines; they are the critics; they own the newspa- can do the job . A lot of black cats are not qualified to fill pers; they own all the mass communications; they own the whole that role. I only hope that they don’t become so unqualified that thing. It’s the same thing over here, the same ones. Same party. they blow everything for everybody else.‘ It’s a hell of a conspiracy.‘ The sense of alienation is most poignantly expressed by The Taylor book is fascinating. It offers insights to be found Johnny Griffm who by then had, like Taylor, moved to Europe. in no other book about jazz that I have encountered. If the He tells Taylor, ‘I’m here in Europe because it’s lighter on me reader is black, I would guess that he or she would find it than it is in America. You don’t have 35 or 40 million black consoling; if the reader is white and has any feeling for his fellow have-nots over here like you have in America. But you (do) man, he will fmd it poignant, and even in places heart-breaking. have them here because I see them sweeping the streets of Paris He will realize that even Miles was frightened. Q and Holland. It’s the black man’s ass up in the air. He’s It is against this background of alienation that one m stooping down picking up the dirt everywhere. The main thing examine the claims and assertions of ‘the likes of‘ Herb Boyd is l’m here because I did something wrong on my planet and and particularly Stanley Crouch and Wynton Marsalis. Crouch they sent me here to pay my dues. I figure pretty soon my dues and Marsalis have formed an odd symbiotic relationship. should be paid, and they’re going to call me back home, so I can Because of Marsalis’ endless public utterances and his assump- rest in peace.‘ tion that he speaks for all black musicians, some of the younger Taylor says, ‘You’re not serious about that, are you?‘ black jazz players in New York resent him. He is musical ‘I can’t be from this place, Arthur,‘ Griffin says. "There is director of Jazz at Lincoln Center; Crouch is artistic adviser. no love and I love people. All'I see is hate around me, except (Marcus Roberts, a Marsalis friend, directs the jazz orchestra.) for a few of my friends. That’s what’s wrong with the earth The relationship is not proving salubrious for jazz. Given this today. Black and white on this planet, there is no love, there is curious accretion of power in two sets of hands, one should try only hate. I was thinking about reading some books on anarchy to understand it. because all this government stuff is b.s. anyway. These govern- ments drawing lines between men, tribes between tribes. Yellow When he was 21 years old (older than Stan Getz was when he people against brown people against black against Moslems recorded Early Autumn) and pushed into the forefront by against Christians against Hindus.