I frequently receive e-mails from curious readers asking what
I look like. In some cases, these e-mails have come from the jazz legends I've interviewed by phone. Up until now, I've avoided posting my photo or focusing on me. I've said from the start that this blog is about the music and the legends I interview, not about me. No one cares about the messenger, and rightly so.
Bret Primack had a slightly different take.
Bret—also known as the Jazz Video Guy—is a pioneer of the
jazz video interview. An NYU Film School graduate and former Down Beat editor and writer, Bret's series of groundbreaking interviews last year with producer Orrin Keepnews for Concord Records continue to captivate thousands of viewers daily. The same goes for his on-camera conversations with jazz legends such as Sonny Rollins and his work in support of CD releases by Mosaic and Blue Note. Bret works hard and is a cutting edge player in the jazz history and communication space online.
Bret also has been one of JazzWax's biggest fans from this blog's earliest days. While Bret has viewed my passion for anonymity as noble, he also has insisted that JazzWax readers have earned the right to see and hear from the person who has been posting six days a week over the past year and a half. I gave in.
So recently I met Bret during
one of his swings through New York. Bret had set up his video equipment at a friend's apartment uptown and
was interviewing jazz legends in a marathon session over several days. In between one of these sets, Bret had an hour or so and asked if he could interview me on-camera. Since I'm a big believer in exposing yourself to the same process you inflict on others, I had to agree. A taste of my own interview medicine, so to speak.
Bret posted the result today at his blog and on YouTube. I hope you enjoy it. Now excuse me while I retreat back into my shell...
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Fascinating, very soulful interview. Your experience, as I'm sure you know, parallels that of many of us in many respects. In particular, your sense (especially early on) of the aura that jazz had, its perhaps inseparable combo of "coolness" and truth value, plus the possibility that one was welcome to participate and to do so as the person one actually was (thus perhaps furthering one's own authentic growth).
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Marc Myers writes frequently on music and the arts for the Wall Street Journal. He is author of "Why Jazz Happened" (University of California Press). In 2012, JazzWax was named the Jazz Journalists Association's "Blog of the Year."
Fascinating, very soulful interview. Your experience, as I'm sure you know, parallels that of many of us in many respects. In particular, your sense (especially early on) of the aura that jazz had, its perhaps inseparable combo of "coolness" and truth value, plus the possibility that one was welcome to participate and to do so as the person one actually was (thus perhaps furthering one's own authentic growth).
Posted by: Larry Kart | March 23, 2009 at 12:09 PM
Loved it. Not only a superior writer but also an engaging speaker. Great Ronnell Bright segment.
Posted by: Ivan Santiago | March 25, 2009 at 02:13 AM