Bill Evans Interview on "Kind of Blue"

[Jazzstdnt]

Like classical musicians, or high level athletes, I think the discipline of world class level jazz players is way more demanding and time consuming than that of medicine, law, engineering and similar professions. It's an all day, every day kind of thing.

Well we are either working 12-14 hour days or not (nights and weekends, etc.) and with full accountability. The only drug one sanely attempts is caffeine.

Yes, I realize that some musicians face that, and for some time - but - I also know first hand that many professionals at the top end of their non-music professions do it ALL CAREER LONG. It ain't healthy, but that's another topic.

And again - in that space of time only coffee is tolerable. Otherwise the persons work goes to shit.

[Jazzstdnt]

That comment is not a comparison between jazz and other non-artistic professions. Evans is talking about the status of jazz musicians in society, especially black jazz musicians, during the bulk of his lifetime, and the contrast between the low regard and ill treatment people like Bird or Bud Powell or Miles received in contrast to the reality of them being highly disciplined artists and thinkers. The focus of that comment is not about the lifestyle or drug abuse. It's about how jazz was considered by the cultural elites to be a low art form performed by inferior people, when in reality it was a high art form that required greater discipline than composing music in advance because of the need to both compose and perform impeccably in the moment.

John

Interesting. That's one interpretation. How did you arrive at that?

I disagree but it's interesting. I know that Evans was a classical music major and was good at it. I can envision him taking some guff for focusing on jazz, and I can envision him being defensive about it (as good as he was).

[sgcim]

I very much doubt it has anything to do with their "charter" from CU. I'm not sure there even is such a thing (no mention of it in the history page on their website), and I don't think there's a whole lot of faculty or administrative oversight. I know for sure there wasn't much when I went there (granted a billion years ago) and knew some of the KCR crowd. I think the perspective of the station is basically historical (almost monomaniacally so in Phil's case), and each generation of dj's tries to maintain continuity with prior generations. It's not a "charter" thing. Rather, it's very much of a piece with the overall culture of the college being centered on intellectual history and canon (alas, no longer Cannon's). Also, KCR has quite a bit of "white" programming (e.g., country, classical, avant grade). And of course CU football which is, uh, colorless, though not odorless. Roar lion roar.

John

Yeah, I don't know if they have a 'charter' like the Pacifica stations, but Phil has a strong familial heritage of civil rights, because his parents were civil rights activists.
As far as the 'black bias', it only concerns jazz as far as I can tell, and it's Phil's thing, apparently having to do with the history of jazz and race.
He's a weird guy for sure. One white jazz guitar player, who's one of the top guys today, told me he played a jazz gig where Phil was the MC, and Phil was raving about the guy's playing, on mic and off, the whole night.

The next day, he sees Phil walking up the Columbia steps, and says hello to him, and Phil just ignores him.
He started asking Phil if he remembers him from last night, when he was raving about his playing, and Phil just keeps walking away from him, trying to avoid him, not saying a word to him.

[John A.]

Interesting. That's one interpretation. How did you arrive at that?

I disagree but it's interesting. I know that Evans was a classical music major and was good at it. I can envision him taking some guff for focusing on jazz, and I can envision him being defensive about it (as good as he was).

By reading what he said. I mean it just seems obvious from context, and from having some awareness that to much of the America Evans grew up in "jazz musician" was freighted with racist stereotypes and that jazz was not "legit."

John

[John A.]

Yeah, I don't know if they have a 'charter' like the Pacifica stations, but Phil has a strong familial heritage of civil rights, because his parents were civil rights activists.
As far as the 'black bias', it only concerns jazz as far as I can tell, and it's Phil's thing, apparently having to do with the history of jazz and race.
He's a weird guy for sure. One white jazz guitar player, who's one of the top guys today, told me he played a jazz gig where Phil was the MC, and Phil was raving about the guy's playing, on mic and off, the whole night.

The next day, he sees Phil walking up the Columbia steps, and says hello to him, and Phil just ignores him.
He started asking Phil if he remembers him from last night, when he was raving about his playing, and Phil just keeps walking away from him, trying to avoid him, not saying a word to him.

KCR has an FCC license, but otherwise (speaking from distant memory, so perhaps unreliably) it operates like a student club. In my day, the studio was in the student activity building with the other clubs (that building was rebuilt/renamed and KCR may have moved). I think Schaap is the only announcer who's not a student. I was there 80-84, and Phil had graduated quite a bit before then. He hadn't yet become the institution he is today, though. He was just one of many people who stuck around after graduation, some quite eccentric.

The school had a good music scene - eclectic, with some good venues. It spawned a number of successful music careers (and a lot more lifelong amateur passions).

John