Good, Bad / Old, New in Jazz

randy d

Good, Bad / Old, New in Jazz

I attempt to access if there is a correlation between the age of jazz musicians and the

quality of their webpages.

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Younger musicians have better websites. They are more comfortable with computers. They are more aware of the benefits of

branding. Older musicians are more concerned with

living in the moment. They do not have the time or understanding

of web practices.

Assumption

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What are the trends in websites? Is there a distinctive difference between

generations? Is there a well practiced template? Is there a company that has cornered the

market in web design for Jazz musicians?

Tasks

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I found over 50 websites of living Jazz musicians.

There wasn’t a necessary correlation between quality and age.

Nor was there one for branding based on the same evidence

Nor for fan based websites or companies

Dissolving assumptions

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The better sites usually had an “enter site” splash page.

The not so better sites had information overload.

My inspiration started when I saw Benny Golson on the movie “The Terminal”

So I checked out his website to see if he was touring.

Found

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Benny Golson

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Barry Harris

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Toots Thielemans Ron Carter Wayne Shorter Bobby Militello

Bad Tigers

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Ron Carter March 2013

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Ron Carter today

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Tony Bennett Ellis Marsalis Herbie Hancock

Good Tigers

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Renee Rosnes Marcus Roberts Diana Krall

Young Lions Good

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Joey DeFrancesco Christian McBride Roy Hargrove

Bad Tigers

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Joey DeFrancesco Christian McBride Roy Hargrove

Young Lions Bad

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Mundell Lowe – just retired Cecile McLorin Salvant – newest kid on block

Old versus New

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I was advised to check out websites for different labels and venues.

Most Jazz labels have become a much larger corporate group.

Either concord or UMG, no trends apparent. The venues do not seem to have any

apparent trends, professionally done with good navigation.

Labels and Venues

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So to wrap up, my initial assumption that quality websites follow a generation or a brand, is wrong. Why? It seems that my favorite older musicians just haven't shown as much concern. Standard design rules apply and cannot be explained by generation or business model.Also, there isn’t any evidence to support or deny computer proficiency either.

Wrap-up

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MartyGrosz.com EddieDanielsclarinet.com Johnclaytonjazz.com Laloshifrin.com Russell Malone Keith Jarrett ** Irony – every musician who has played with

Diana Krall has a crummy website.

If time - links