Don't forget to listen to good music

I agree with the sentiment and thoughts expressed by L.A. band leader Gordon Goodwin in a recent letter to the editor of the L.A. Times, in response to their recent decline in coverage of jazz:


Dear Mr. Stanton,

It has been discouraging to watch the LA Times, along with most other papers, struggle to stay in business. It arrives on my doorstep, no check that, in my driveway, every day. I've been reading it every day since I was in high school, so we're talking 30 years. I see the paper get smaller every year, with more stuff shuttled over to the web version all the time. But I could get used to getting my news from my laptop instead of holding it in my hands. What I cannot get used to is watching the music coverage get more and more superficial. You have always covered pop music, to be sure, but at least you gave classical music and jazz a fairly good shot with live reviews and record reviews and a listing of where you can see this music live. But it is clear that you have decided that jazz is no longer relevant, so I have to pick up the calendar section and see a huge picture of some American Idol kid who "has the gift to turn pain into music" and who describes his dedication to his art as "What the hell? Nothing to lose, really." That's it for you guys? That's your criteria for an above the fold feature?

This kid will no doubt sell more records than your average jazz artist, based [on] the "American Idol" hook alone. But you guys have to hold the line! You have to continue to recognize that there are other ways to acknowledge value in art aside from sales numbers. You are turning into People magazine before our eyes! Russ, you do know that much of pop music....sucks, right? This is not just a question of taste, you can quantify it. Based on the nuts and bolts of it, jazz is to pop music as a gourmet meal is to McDonalds. You could get by eating at McDonalds for a while, but eventually, it's gonna kill you, and that is what is happening to this country's taste in music. And the Times is a contributor to this.

Jazz was created in this country, and most other genres have borrowed heavily from jazz and owe a large debt of gratitude to it. The musicians that have devoted their lives to learning how to play this music (think it takes very long to learn how to play rock 'n roll?) deserve much more than your indifference, and if you want your newspaper to be thought of as one that preserves art of depth and content, you should think about revis[ing] this new policy.

I hope you will at least give this some thought.

Gordon Goodwin

To his credit, the editor responded positively and promised to have improved coverage of real music in the future. Go to Gordon Goodwin's blog at www.gordongoodwin.com for the background and more on this exchange.