JAM Magazine: December/January 2000 Issue: First Take

by Mike Metheny
JAM Editor

It's Here
You don't have to be any particular age to marvel at what's about to happen to the calendar. True, the new millennium doesn't officially begin until 2001, but when the odometer flips to three zeroes for the first time in a thousand years, most of the planet will be watching with great interest. (That is, until business as usual resumes on January 2.)

Many of us will see this milestone with a perspective rooted in the science fiction of youth. When "2001, A Space Odyssey" was a popular film 30-plus years ago, such a date seemed distant and remote. For that matter, when the 1960 movie version of H.G. Wells' "The Time Machine" made reference to the space age year of "1966," even that seemed pretty futuristic one Saturday afternoon at Lee's Summit's old Vogue Theater.

But, for better or worse -- and there's plenty of each -- the Future has arrived.

At the beginning of the 21st century, where do we stand? Have we dumbed down to the point where yesterday's parodies have become today's realities? (Seen any "info-tainment" TV lately?) Or, have mankind's smarts taken us to new and previously unimagined heights? Is the music celebrated in this magazine on its deathbed, its icons and innovators leaving us one by one with few to fill their colossal shoes? Or, is jazz enjoying a peak of popularity, its multifaceted history right at our fingertips, and a new generation of followers joining the ranks of those who never left?

Lotsa questions, not many answers... at least not here in "First Take." (My main concern is that some unknown Y2K bug will shut down my trumpet synth.)

In any event, let me take this opportunity to wish all of you a happy, healthy and prosperous new year/century/millennium. If nothing else, what awaits us on the other side of that fresh odometer will bring with it many new challenges and opportunities. (And yes, probably more "virtual duets" with smooth jazz heroes and dead jazz legends.)

Art Farmer
1928-1999
Next time your breath is taken away by the virtuosity of one of today's neo-beboppers -- and there are some incredible jazz musicians out there right now -- there's a chance you will also find yourself thinking, "OK, but is something missing here?" To which the doctor might reply, "Listen to Art Farmer's Gentle Eyes and call me in the morning." When the great trumpeter/flugelhornist died on October 4 at 71, the jazz world lost not only one of the last easily identifiable melodic stylists, but someone who could say more with a single whole note than most can with a blitzkrieg of sixteenths. And on top of that, Mr. Farmer was a humble, soft-spoken, articulate and eloquent gentleman, a combination of attributes in short supply as the century comes to a close.

Art Farmer: lyrical genius and class act. He will be missed.

Adios, El Wanqueristador!

And vaya con dios to the unsuspecting city of Dallas, where former Kansas City Star music critic Scott Cantrell has transferred his tired brand of simpering vitriol. At long last, a nine year old boil festering on the face of the KC music scene has been lanced. Thing is, we hear tell that some long tall Texans don't take too kindly to sniveling wankers who throw whiny hissy fits.

Saddle up and ride, boys! It's time to make the new deputy dance.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
"Bad critics make artists miserable, confuse audiences, and generally add to the sum total of unhappiness on this earth." -- Terry Teachout, music critic for the New York Daily News, the Sunday New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Time magazine and Commentary.

RETURN TO DEC/JAN. 2000 MAIN INDEX

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© Kansas City Jazz Ambassadors 1996-2001. All rights reserved.






	Search our site:		by Mike Metheny JAM Editor It's Here You don't have to be any particular age to marvel at what's about to happen to the calendar. True, the new millennium doesn't officially begin until 2001, but when the odometer flips to three zeroes for the first time in a thousand years, most of the planet will be watching with great interest. (That is, until business as usual resumes on January 2.) Many of us will see this milestone with a perspective rooted in the science fiction of youth. When "2001, A Space Odyssey" was a popular film 30-plus years ago, such a date seemed distant and remote. For that matter, when the 1960 movie version of H.G. Wells' "The Time Machine" made reference to the space age year of "1966," even that seemed pretty futuristic one Saturday afternoon at Lee's Summit's old Vogue Theater. But, for better or worse -- and there's plenty of each -- the Future has arrived. At the beginning of the 21st century, where do we stand? Have we dumbed down to the point where yesterday's parodies have become today's realities? (Seen any "info-tainment" TV lately?) Or, have mankind's smarts taken us to new and previously unimagined heights? Is the music celebrated in this magazine on its deathbed, its icons and innovators leaving us one by one with few to fill their colossal shoes? Or, is jazz enjoying a peak of popularity, its multifaceted history right at our fingertips, and a new generation of followers joining the ranks of those who never left? Lotsa questions, not many answers... at least not here in "First Take." (My main concern is that some unknown Y2K bug will shut down my trumpet synth.) In any event, let me take this opportunity to wish all of you a happy, healthy and prosperous new year/century/millennium. If nothing else, what awaits us on the other side of that fresh odometer will bring with it many new challenges and opportunities. (And yes, probably more "virtual duets" with smooth jazz heroes and dead jazz legends.) Art Farmer 1928-1999 Next time your breath is taken away by the virtuosity of one of today's neo-beboppers -- and there are some incredible jazz musicians out there right now -- there's a chance you will also find yourself thinking, "OK, but is something missing here?" To which the doctor might reply, "Listen to Art Farmer's Gentle Eyes and call me in the morning." When the great trumpeter/flugelhornist died on October 4 at 71, the jazz world lost not only one of the last easily identifiable melodic stylists, but someone who could say more with a single whole note than most can with a blitzkrieg of sixteenths. And on top of that, Mr. Farmer was a humble, soft-spoken, articulate and eloquent gentleman, a combination of attributes in short supply as the century comes to a close. Art Farmer: lyrical genius and class act. He will be missed. Adios, El Wanqueristador! And vaya con dios to the unsuspecting city of Dallas, where former Kansas City Star music critic Scott Cantrell has transferred his tired brand of simpering vitriol. At long last, a nine year old boil festering on the face of the KC music scene has been lanced. Thing is, we hear tell that some long tall Texans don't take too kindly to sniveling wankers who throw whiny hissy fits. Saddle up and ride, boys! It's time to make the new deputy dance. THOUGHT FOR THE DAY "Bad critics make artists miserable, confuse audiences, and generally add to the sum total of unhappiness on this earth." -- Terry Teachout, music critic for the New York Daily News, the Sunday New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Time magazine and Commentary. RETURN TO DEC/JAN. 2000 MAIN INDEX ------------------------------------------------------------------------ © Kansas City Jazz Ambassadors 1996-2001. All rights reserved.