Friday, May 01, 2009

Jazz Latitudinarians

Glenn Reynolds, the Instapundit, links to a site listing the 100 greatest jazz albums of all time. I only have a passing knowledge of jazz and wouldn't quibble with most of the honorees save for one glaring exception, number 87: Herb Albert & the Tijuana Brass, Whipped Cream & Other Delights. No way, Jose! As pleasant those insipid sounds might be, by no stretch of the imagination are they jazz. Years ago, when I worked in a record store, Albert's discs were found in the Easy Listening section, which is precisely where they belonged.

While I also question no. 46: George Gershwin's performance of Rhapsody in Blue (that work being an early example of "crossover," not jazz but a jazz-influenced "classical" composition), it certainly has far more jazz in it than "Tijuana Taxi."

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