Double Bass Christian McBride on Saturday Night Live

#41
It is what it is, and apparently lots of folks dig it, and yes, McBride did what a top level pro should do. That said, it bugged me. Just about the only thing that really turns me off musically is when dumb stuff is presented as if it's important. Pop music is loaded with this, and this performance has it in spades. You can find it in art music too. Just to jangle some chains, I found quite a lot of that in two of my favorite jazz groups: Keith Jarrett's trio and Wayne Shorter's quartet. Both of those groups played some pretty dumb stuff presented as good music. I bought my tickets and came back because the good stuff was really, really good. I suspect if I were to attend a Billie Eilish concert that would not be the case.
 
#42
lurk said:
It is what it is, and apparently lots of folks dig it, and yes, McBride did what a top level pro should do. That said, it bugged me. Just about the only thing that really turns me off musically is when dumb stuff is presented as if it's important. Pop music is loaded with this, and this performance has it in spades. You can find it in art music too. Just to jangle some chains, I found quite a lot of that in two of my favorite jazz groups: Keith Jarrett's trio and Wayne Shorter's quartet. Both of those groups played some pretty dumb stuff presented as good music. I bought my tickets and came back because the good stuff was really, really good. I suspect if I were to attend a Billie Eilish concert that would not be the case.
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A while back I thought "you know, I really need to get a grasp of this Taylor Swift thing". So I brought up You Tuba and listened to the "Best of Taylor Swift" playlist. About half way through I realized, I'd done this before. That's how memorable the material was. Anyway, all I could think was "it's mall music." Honestly, it just sounds like everything else you hear in the mall. Billy Eyeliner, much the same, more on the "sad girl" end of the spectrum, but nothing memorable.

I call this stuff "processed music-like sound product". It does whatever it's supposed to do (teen angst to sell stuff, beats to dance to), and it's done with great attention to "quality" (no clams, superior recording balance, etc.) but I'm sorry, there's no "there" there.

It's not like I'm old and that's the only reason - think Pat Boone, Donnie and Marie, the Captain and Tennille, Poco, and that long stream of disco "artists" whose names were applied to that stuff that was extruded from the big disco machine in the basement somewhere in LA. And, yes, Swing and Sway with Sammy Kaye or Shep Fields' Rippling Rhythm fell into the same category. I think "processed musiclike sound product" has been around for an awful long time. The old line about Glenn Miller was "Too bad Glenn couldn't have lived, and the music gone down in the plane."
 
#44
I think it was a wonderful performance. My daughter loves her and I give kudos to anyone doing something original now. McBride is doing his thing as the amazing professional that he is.

crd said:
The best players I've know in my life have talked the least amount of ****.
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This is so true. I’ve met some awesome bassists and artists in my music career and the best ones are the most humble. As I have always said, Rule Number 1 in music is “don’t be a di*#”. Those artists that I have met and opened for who were actual di*#s dropped down several pegs in my respect for them. Nobody wants to play with a di*#.
 
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#45
Auer said:
If you can't put down others, how will you ever figure out your own worth?
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So all music is of equal value? No criteria of excellence? Muskrat Love is just as good as Beethoven's Ninth?

Or, maybe, you prefer the argument "until you can do what they've done, you have no right to criticize or form any aesthetic opinion" - so unless I can create one of Thomas Kinkade Painter of Light (registered trademark)'s objects, I'm not allowed to state that his stuff is dreck and the Sistine Chapel ceiling is high art?

Or, maybe, you prefer the "anyone who thinks an "artistic" product is lacking in artistic merit, is simply jealous because the maker of said product makes millions, and the critic doesn't"?

So how far do you want to take this? The quality of the Cuyahoga River water was just as "good" back when it caught fire, as when the Indians ate the fish they caught? A mountain slope of huge tree stumps is just as "good" as a sequoia forest, because "it's just your opinion, man, and anyway you're just jealous because Boise Cascade made all that money and you didn't"?

Sorry, but all those arguments were dealt with hundreds (thousands?) of years ago, and the general consensus amongst those who spend their time thinking about these things is that individuals ARE allowed to form aesthetic opinions; ARE allowed to express them (unless, that is, you like Abstract Expressionism in Stalin's Russia..) and ARE not to be prejudged as to the motivations of such aesthetic opinions. Everything else ends in compulsion and censorship.
 
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#46
;);)
Keith Rawlings said:
I think it was a wonderful performance. My daughter loves her and I give kudos to anyone doing something original now. McBride is doing his thing as the amazing professional that he is.



This is so true. I’ve met some awesome bassists and artists in my music career and the best ones are the most humble. As I have always said, Rule Number 1 in music is “don’t be a di*#”. Those artists that I have met and opened for who were actual di*#s dropped down several pegs in my respect for them. Nobody wants to play with a di*#.
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(Insert lewd interpretation of the last sentence.);)
 
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#47
Chris Fitzgerald said:
Just to be clear, I was speaking to the overall vibe of the thread in question rather than to any single person. Every so often, there is a thread on TB where a young performer - often but not always female - gets piled on for not being ______x enough, or for being too ________x. I remember several Tal Wilkenfeld threads like this, and a thread about how Norah Jones isn’t a real jazz musician with tons of sour grapes about the amount of success she’s had. Reading these sorts of comments always left a bad taste in my mouth, and made me feel like TB could do better in this regard. As a side note, I’ve played with Ms. Jones and she’s the real deal as a musician, and would never claim to be a mainstream jazzer. She just does what she does, and does it really well. IMO, of course. And as always, EEMMV/EEMWCB.

As for Ms. Eilish, my wife would absolutely hate her vocal style, but I see some real musicianship there, and I like that they write their own songs. For the rest, no one is making me listen to anything, so if I hear something I don’t like, it’s an opportunity to just move on and listen to something that I do like.
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Another (young and female) singer who is experiencing the exact same effect right now is Laufey.
 
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#55
As someone with two daughters and who went through the teenage and young adult times with them, I believe some of you should lighten up a bit. Every age has their own music. It may not be to our taste, but it doesn't matter. It's their music, and what others may think is irrelevant, at least to them. I realize it's an old song, but Christmas tunes are different anyway. They're fair game for anyone.
On a side note, I've probably played this tune hundreds of times, but I don't recall ever doing it in E, as Ms. Eilish does.
 
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