Thursday, January 28, 2010
Jazz Miniseries
I felt the miniseries (at least the episode we watched) was very informative. It definitely allowed everyday people to have access to many historical pieces that were at one time almost impossible to find. Although Ken Burns' directing skills are criticized, his biographical skills are undoubtedly noteworthy. He depicts the history of jazz music with great detail and goes into the background history of many of the great jazz musicians at the time. One of the main reasons the miniseries is criticized is due to its lack of diversity in jazz music. Many musicians and historians feel the show does not focus enough on the various other types of jazz music, such as soul jazz, free jazz, and avant-garde jazz (which essentially means jazz that's ahead of its time). The miniseries also tends to skip various decades at a time, giving inaccurate depictions of jazz music especially in the 1960's. Despite its criticism, I happen to enjoy the miniseries, especially since I am not very knowledgeable when it comes to jazz music.
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Giana,
ReplyDeleteI am in complete agreement with you. What needs to be remembered, and which you pointed out, is that this was meant to be accessible to popular audiences. It is not necessarily intended for musicologists, jazz impressarios and music historians/writers-while they certainly can enjoy it too. Having said that, the history of jazz is portrayed in a more linear fashion in this series. I have not seen his other documentaries on the Civil War, baseballe, and the National Parks (which I forgot to mention in class) but I have read similar criticisms regarding the history of that respected series.