@hilljam
While looking for a CD that was sold out elsewhere at the time, I popped into a Walmart on the theory that they might have more stock or less interest (can't remember for the life of me what it was), only to find that Miles Davis and other greats had been mixed in with all the most generic classical records (Beethoven's Fifth, Mozart's greatest hits, etc) in a section boldly labelled "Easy Listening".
I recovered my monocle from my waistcoat pocket and left.
Man I remember the fuss in the Jazz community when Miles Davis released Tutu, which did so not sound like a Jazz album (and even less so live). I wore grooves in my ears listening to it. Absolutely kicked butt. So much fun.
Any genere must be more than just instrumentation and production, right? Re-listening to Blackstar now, and to me, this is still straight-up whatever type of rock Bowie always made. The saxophone has been a part of his sonic signature for decades, just hiring jazz guys to play rock doesn't make it jazz.
Bowie's WRITING is still true to his whole catalog, and sonically it all fits.
Listen to the drum and bass, these jazz guys are super thrilled to finally be playing in a rock band 😄
@hilljam "Jazz" and "rules" seem like odd bedfellows, and I think there's a larger categorization to music that could be applied: whether the emphasis is on structure or on expression. It reminds me of something Trent Reznor said about being inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, on what "rock" even is and that the Hall of Fame can recognize "synth" bands: "It's the spirit of expression and, to me, freedom and no limits to expression. That's my version of what rock means."
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