# Ken Burns' JAZZ...I ain't gonna bother **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 8, 2001, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ken-burns-jazz-i-aint-gonna-bother/48992 "2001-01-08T14:20:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Gadarene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Gadarene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gadarene)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2001, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ken-burns-jazz-i-aint-gonna-bother/48992/61 "2001-01-16T17:09:24Z")
[hijack] **Ike** , **Eve**! I need both of you in my [Jump Music Recommendations](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=55018) thread! It would mean so very, very much to the young tykes at the orphanage… [/hijack] ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2001, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ken-burns-jazz-i-aint-gonna-bother/48992/62 "2001-01-16T17:10:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Eve \* > \*\*some pencil-necked geek with a 3-days’ growth? Yet another pompous blow-hard talking over music clips I’d like to LISTEN to. \*\* Yeah, he was awful, wasn’t he? What was worse, he SANG over some of the music clips! (He’s listed as “musician.” Maybe he played the accordian at Burns’s bar mitzvah or somthin’…) Looks like they’ve shot right over Mr. Calloway. Had to make room for the THREE Armstrong segments they featured last night. “As Cab Calloway was savoring the greatest creative night of his career, uptown, LOUIS ARMSTRONG was savoring a fried catfish sandwich and a cold draft beer at Sylvia’s Soul Shack on 125th street.” Nice piece on Fats Waller, though, wasn’t it? Wish I’d taped it, just for his film perf of “The Joint is Jumpin’”. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2001, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ken-burns-jazz-i-aint-gonna-bother/48992/63 "2001-01-16T17:22:24Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Eve \* > \*\* > • Didn’t you love that dancer from the Savoy? She was adorable._\* Sadly, that’s the same young woman on the crumpled roof of the car in the LIFE photo. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2001, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ken-burns-jazz-i-aint-gonna-bother/48992/64 "2001-01-16T17:32:40Z")
“Sadly, that’s the same young woman on the crumpled roof of the car in the LIFE photo.” —She must have been that girl Ossie Davis was dancing with: “Sometimes I swung them out and they never came back!” RIGHT out the winder. Ike, they will rerun it this weekend, I’m sure. I wonder why we got Pt. 4 last night and Phila. got Pt. 5? Disconcerting, to say the least. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2001, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ken-burns-jazz-i-aint-gonna-bother/48992/65 "2001-01-16T19:00:18Z")
[QUOTE] \*Originally posted by Slithy Tove \* \*\* > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Eve \* > \*\*Sadly, that’s the same young woman on the crumpled roof of the car in the LIFE photo. \*\* Wish I’d seen it last night. Would like to have memories of her alive. That is a wonderful photo, in a creepy way. It looks just like a fashion spread. ---
**Author:** ![Sofa\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Sofa\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofa_King)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2001, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ken-burns-jazz-i-aint-gonna-bother/48992/66 "2001-01-26T20:47:26Z")
Okay. Ike and Eve, I believe I now owe you an apology. I am slowly beginning to see your point of view. I’m not with you yet, but I have my own reservations, which I will enumerate. Louis is being used in classic Burnsian fashion as the “touchstone” character in the documentary, not unlike how he overblew the contributions of Joshua Chamberlain in his Civil War bit to maintain “continuity of interest.” While it tells a nice story, I have to agree that it is becoming annoying. The problem is, while we all love Pops, we all _know_ Pops already. I know exactly why Burns did it, but it’s starting to piss me off, too. And yes, I too am getting tired of WM. However, my particular annoyance is that the narrator tells the story Burns wants him to tell, then drops Winton in to _restate the narration_ in his own ebullient style. It’s redundant, and it’s wasting time. Please consider my previous objections retracted. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2001, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ken-burns-jazz-i-aint-gonna-bother/48992/67 "2001-01-26T21:04:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sofa King \* > \*\*Louis is being used in classic Burnsian fashion as the “touchstone” character in the documentary…While it tells a nice story, I have to agree that it is becoming annoying. \*\* Didn’t you just love the “We’ll take a short break from examining how Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Kenny Clarke, and Bud Powell were totally redefining the music during the postwar era to share this heartwarming story of Louis and his first Christmas Tree” thing on Wednesday night? 'Scuse me while I puke. ---
**Author:** ![Sofa\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Sofa\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofa_King)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2001, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ken-burns-jazz-i-aint-gonna-bother/48992/68 "2001-01-26T21:20:57Z")
That may have been the crucial moment. At that point, my rapt attention wavered and my gaze shifted over to the collection. Whereupon I noticed that I have more recordings of Bud Powell than I do of Louis Armstrong. I’m still enjoying the show immensely. But you’re right: the focus is off, the story is skewed, and _my_ favorites are being stuffed in the interests of spinning a yarn. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2001, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ken-burns-jazz-i-aint-gonna-bother/48992/69 "2001-01-29T15:30:00Z")
Watched the last few “Jazzes” on Saturday. Dizzy, Bird. I don’t collar those cats, gate. Latch on—I’m a V-8 and that boogie-woogie don’t kill me. Dig? ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2001, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ken-burns-jazz-i-aint-gonna-bother/48992/70 "2001-01-29T20:28:12Z")
I guess I knew that Louis Armstrong smoked dope, but thanks for reminding me, PBS. Now my mind keeps playing the Louis Armstrong cover of “Insane In The Membrane.” (At least it blocks out all the diggery do music from my family watching Suvivor 2) ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2001, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ken-burns-jazz-i-aint-gonna-bother/48992/71 "2001-02-07T17:07:12Z")
Very funny parody of the show. I know this has been making the E-mails rounds (thanks, Tuba!) but it just showed up on Salon and I thought you might enjoy it: [http://www.salon.com/ent/tv/feature/2001/02/07/ken\_burns/index.html](http://www.salon.com/ent/tv/feature/2001/02/07/ken_burns/index.html) ---
**Author:** ![Soul\_Brother\_Number\_Two](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/soul_brother_number_two/32/3515_2.png) [@Soul\_Brother\_Number\_Two](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soul_Brother_Number_Two)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2001, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ken-burns-jazz-i-aint-gonna-bother/48992/72 "2001-02-08T02:21:47Z")
i wouldnt watch it cuz he fucked up baseball so bad, but i ended up watching episode 9, and i cried at least twice, once when lady day and prez were in that tv show and prez took that _amazing_ solo (lady day’s face… oh my god) and once when ossie davis, such a cool man, was talking about louie. wynton, however, should be muzzled forthwith, roundheaded hubris-laden divisive not-so-great-a-horn-player-himself jerkoff. still dont know if i wanna see any more, but i wuz amazed by how moved i was… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ken-burns-jazz-i-aint-gonna-bother/48992.md?page=3)