DownBeat January 1999 [antikvár]

N THE BEAT JANUARY 1999 Alternaie Takes: Another Barrier by Patrick Rand Buniette Fans ()("ja/z ivissues liavt- it «ood these days. I'iiti'en or 20 years a^'o, even the classics could be difficult lo find. I have vivid meinoiies of beinj,' uiiable lo l)uy John Collrane's Giant Steps in central Illinois. Now the album is easily found in several ibr-niats virtually anywhere. Bul tJie curi-eiit Hood of reissues. gi-atifyiny: as il is, has ere aled its own set of problems. We have new permutations of familiar music, a siuplus of alternate versions of previously issued tunes and a s^neral movement toward "completeness" in presenting an artist s work. Today's danger is not starvation but surfeit, wilh literally too much to digest. Alternate takes have their uses. One is no doubt poorer for having heard only the first of Charlie Parker's rwo versions of "Embraceable You" on Dial. But rarely does not hearing a tune's alternate takes represent a loss equal to not hearing ihe master Even if Ihe alternate is comparable in quality, the problem of redundancy remains. The song is the same, with the arrangement and usually even the tempo similar or identical. The solos may be different, but unless they vary enough for a distinctive listening experience. the annoyance of treading familiar ground outweighs the novelty. Yet alternate lakes spring up everywhere. Wliy? Tliey provide an occasion for record com|)anies lo ])ush "new" versions of favorite albums. in altered packaging. A more sympathetic reason, and one fre(|uently cited by collectors, is lhal Ihey give new information aboul Ihe artist: One can see Ihe mehxlic ideas they discard, keep and transform. 'Iliey leach us. Most alli.-rnalcs, however, provide lilUc iniormation lhal could iiol be learned i'lsc-whcn-. P,<'si(k^s, [x-oplc doii'l listen lo he educated—Ihcy listen for plcasur«-. Nol lhal ininicilialcly undcrslandahle music is better lhan music reriiiiriiig some ac<'linia-lioii, ))ut anyone- sIkm I ni a nuisicologist (li>i s nol spi-nd iIk' majority of his lislcii K DOWNBEAT ing in close slylislic analysis. We do not lisien to master knowledge, but rather to make our lives more beautiful, vibrant and ordered. Knowledge is only a happy side-effect of jazz lisleiiing, and for a non-jazz fan stuck in conversation wilh someone like me. il's not even hap|)y. Alternate takes, more often lhan nol. in-lerfere wilh Ihe young listener s education and diliili- Ihe veleran's eiijoymenl. As a high school sludeiil. iny acquaintance willi Ix'sler Young was considerably delayed because his first alhiun I houglil was a reis-siu- of his Kcyslt)ne sides. I've grown lo love il. I)ul I almost never played Ihe rceord allcr I houglil il because hall Ihe thing idMiprised allrniaU' laki's tripping on the heels of the masters. The vital, subliminal absoriJlioii of Young was interrupted, and I had no inclination to write a monograph (jii his note choices for takes one and Iwo of "1 Never Knew." Alternate takes add another barrier to overcome and I increase the appearance that enjoying jazz requires an elite esoteric knowledge. What about the argument that presenting exactly what happened at a session, in the order it happened, is the more I "honest" approach? This plea I of authenticity doesn't hold I water. No studio recording I can completely represent I what an artist produced when the recording was made. Alternates and rejected tracks may represent music at a lower standard than the musician produced live the previous or following night—one good reason material gets discarded in the first place. Well-conceived albums are not assembled to represent somehow what happened in a studio on a given series of sessions. but to make a coherent musical experience out of parts of the sessions. Tlie session might have begun witli a searing ballad, but the record might make more emotional sense if it ends with one. All good art involves selection as well as creation. A little more restraint would surely be welcome from both record companies and consumers in regard to alternate lakes. 1 present Ihree suggestions: : ¦ Seleci alternates with care, i For example, on Kenny _i Burrelis GuitarFoms (Verve) reissue, half the program is the group warming up. ¦ Resist the urge to put alternates alter master lakes. A-B comparisons are Ihrilling only (mce. ¦ Consumers: Remember that life is shorl-¦fho best jazz deserves repealed atlcntiijtj-and more does nol always moan belter DB Patrick Rand Burnelte leaches English at Butler University in Indianapolis. He can be reached at pbiiinettyiilhomas.biitlei.eilii.