Comments on: Sonny Rollins and The New Yorker: YIKES!

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By: Friday Fun: Comments and chronology on The Great Sonny Rollins Jazz Satire Blowup of 2014 [Confessions of a Science Librarian] | Gaia Gazette

Fri, 19 Sep 2014 20:30:28 +0000

[…] Sonny Rollins and the New Yorker: Yikes! from Jazz […]

By: Tom Krehbiel

Tom Krehbiel — Mon, 01 Sep 2014 17:27:54 +0000

Sonny was not the target. Sonny was the weapon…or rather his colossal (word chosen with considerable intent) stature was. If one is going to put together a parody of trite comments on jazz, what better voice to cast it in than that of jazz’s greatest living exponent?

I found it very funny and very much on target…unlike a pointless bit that a “comic” artist (note the scare quotes) produced by singing the Oscar Mayer weenie song in the voice of Billie Holiday. I found it totally offensive, unfunny, demeaning of a musical hero, and wrote the asshole who did it off my list forever.

I’m good with “Django Gold,” but I’m dismayed that Sonny Rollins felt personal hurt. I don’t read any such intent in Gold’s piece

By: DrJ

DrJ — Sat, 16 Aug 2014 04:10:31 +0000

GST’s post above nails it. The reason nobody could tell it was a parody is that it was perhaps the most unfunny piece of writing I’ve ever read. And, I agree with others here that there were racist undertones, making it sound like national treasure musicians such as Dexter (sadly departed of course) and Sonny were ignorant, surly, and didn’t play “real” music (and worse, that they somehow didn’t want to be doing what they devoted their lives to doing, with heart and soul). It simply didn’t make sense and, again, where was the humor? Show me one funny line in there. What the hell were the author and the New Yorker thinking? Stupid and downright confusing, and that is why there is a furor. Claiming that the furor is due to jazz musicians and fans not having a sense of humor is simply adding insult to injury – blaming the victims – a royal cop out. Ah well the New Yorker has been circling the drain for years now; this just brings the rag one step closer to flushville.

By: Gregory the Fish

Gregory the Fish — Wed, 13 Aug 2014 17:19:28 +0000

ALSO,

i have a grandfather who always talks about how much he loves stan kenton, chet baker, stan getz, etc. etc. and there is a pattern there.

the fact that his top jazz players are all white is very telling. they chose sonny because he is one of the greatest alive, and i can think of few white players or even other players at all, that are alive and of that caliber. writing about jazz in general and focusing on a white player would be truly racist, in my opinion.

By: Gregory the Fish

Gregory the Fish — Wed, 13 Aug 2014 17:02:58 +0000

john,

i can get behind most of that, but i still feel like the assertion that it is racist is rather silly.

though i’m a straight white male so i’m not sure i really know, do it?

By: ceedee

ceedee — Sat, 09 Aug 2014 15:50:03 +0000

Agreed,Mr.Drago. Upon second reading,Al’s reference to a “fully trumped up”controversy probabaly got it right.

By: Charles Drago

Charles Drago — Sat, 09 Aug 2014 00:43:16 +0000

How could you tell the New York cop at the Crucifixion?

“Okay … c’mon, let’s go, show’s over.”

By: John Bigelow

John Bigelow — Fri, 08 Aug 2014 22:43:35 +0000

GTF, I think what Charles is saying it that it is racist crap that is beneath the New Yorker, and should be called out as such, but that at the same time, we have and should celebrate free speech.

By: Rich (DG Mono)

Rich (DG Mono) — Wed, 06 Aug 2014 18:21:02 +0000

I thought there were funny moments, but I thought the piece was above all confusing, especially the fact that it claimed to be written by “Django Gold” but then was in Sonny Rollins’ own words?? But the way the article portrayed Rollins as someone who “realized that jazz is terrible” was very strange to me, and I have to say that I agree with Al that the article promotes ignorant sterotypes of jazz in a way that encourages the reader to think the author belives the stereotypes are true to some extent. And why couldn’t it just have been from the point of view of a listener or an obscure musician? It’s hard to explain but I can’t help but think that by picking such an important figure that there is some subtle degree of literalism regarding the opinions being expressed in the article.