Um...In Your Face?

I'm immensely happy that a jazz artist FINALLY won a Grammy for Album of the Year. It's especially gratifying that Winehouse didn't get this one because a) she's good, but overrated, b) soul is just a more pop-friendly Black art form, no matter how good you are, c) she beat out FOUR women of color (okay two had already won in previous years, so maybe this isn't racism). But let's not call her the "Queen of Soul" okay? Most people that own her album don't even own any other soul records, let alone New Soul Records, like Me'Shell or Jil Scott, etc.--they just like the whole "badass girls who can sing" thing. True, a small percentage of her fans will indeed subsequently purchase Stevie Wonder's Inner Visions or perhaps the Best of Aretha.

Unfortunately, Herbie Hancock is a "crossover" jazz artist, and The Joni Letters songs are very palatable: smooth and short (radio-friendly), with lots of guest artists (sort of like how Santana made a comeback). The only other time a jazz album won this award was in 1965 for the Getz/Gilberto collaboration ("The Girl from Ipanema"--you know this one), and even THAT was another palatable, bourgeois record. When, oh when, will BE-BOP jazz actually win? I guess never, since, pure musicality, especially the "I can't understand it--meh!00it make my brain hurt--meeeh!--I can't dance/fuck to it--meh!" kind of musicality never wins (see: every classical music record every made).

So, I wanted to say, "In Your Face!" to everyone who voted for the hipness and the cool-factor over, you know, musical ability or something, but Winehouse's record is just better--because Hancock's is ust not that great of a record, folks. If you wants you some Herbie Hancock, buy Maiden Voyage--anything with his post-Miles Davis group. Just not this. And certainly not the "Rockit" album or that horrible "Cantaloupe Island" song!

Urgh. It's fucking cold out. Urghhh.