I have really enjoyed watching the episodes of "Jazz". I particularly like the snappy music. However, as I watch I also realize that I am awfully ignorant about the subject and wonder how much of what I am seeing is fact and how much is just opinion. For example in both this episode and the previous one, I hear folks saying that Billie Holiday was 'the best' big band singer. Hmmm...the best?! It's like saying one singer today it the best or a movie is the best or a certain flavor is ice cream is best--it's an opinion but is being stated like it's a fact. So how many other times does this impact the show--such as with which musicians are featured and which ones are not.
Topics covered include Benny Goodman's successful concert at Carnegie Hall, what a BIG butt-head Goodman actually was and how it helped tear apart his band, Billie Holiday and her genius with music, Sarah Vaughn and the song "Strange Fruit", Chick Webb, Count Basie and Kansas City jazz as well as the slow integration of audiences and bands. All in all, very enjoyable despite its apparent biases.
Topics covered include Benny Goodman's successful concert at Carnegie Hall, what a BIG butt-head Goodman actually was and how it helped tear apart his band, Billie Holiday and her genius with music, Sarah Vaughn and the song "Strange Fruit", Chick Webb, Count Basie and Kansas City jazz as well as the slow integration of audiences and bands. All in all, very enjoyable despite its apparent biases.
