CRISE SUR LE JAZZ AUX ETATS-UNIS, said the headline in Paris' Combat. French zazous (pure-jazz bugs) who think of the U.S. as a land paved with Louis Armstrongs and Sidney Bechets got a depressing firsthand report on the "crisis," far from new, of U.S. jazz. Wrote French Bandleader Jacques Hélian:
"The evolution of jazz styles has bored the public. The big bands find it hard to live and many of them have dissolved, reforming only for specific jobs. Count Basie works with a small combo . . . Duke Ellington has no following."
Inquiring around, Hélian also found that "in general the American...
To continue reading:
or
Log-In
