I admit to having a bias for cleanliness in playing. For me, if technique is sloppy it takes away from whatever ideas a soloist has, and I think, "Well, I like your ear, but you clearly can't play what you're trying to play, so simplify it until you can." And for sure, sloppy trombone jazz is virtually unlistenable to lay people, who hear technique long before they grapple with concepts of improvisational content.jacobgarchik wrote: ↑Sun Dec 08, 2024 11:34 am I totally get the impulse to struggle with listening to players with technical issues...I have a pretty wide latitude for this sort of thing, which is why I love Miles at the plugged nickel or late coltrane at his most searching, precision be damned phases.
but again, back to the topic at hand, there are plenty of forward thinking young players who do have a very exacting technique, i don't think it's a generational thing.
plus I always tell students, technique can mean many things...there is mastery of improvisational technique as well as mastery of instrumental facility.
With my bias for clean playing, I also have the philosophy that simple and clean melodies are better than impressive licks that are sloppy. Indeed, I think simple and melodic is often better than impressive and intellectual. And, though I am by no means a great jazz player, I bring that philosophy into my own playing. If I can't play it cleanly, I back off and play something simpler that sounds clean. That's just me.
That said, my all-time favorite GOAT jazz trombone player was Frank Rosolino, who was anything but clean in his playing. Man, his solos were full of soul, and angst, and passion, and IMHO he was the best trombone jazz player who ever lived. Yet, he wasn't clean. I would have preferred him clean, but what he gave us was SO GOOD that the sloppiness actually added to the soul of his solos. But that's Frank. I know of exactly zero trombonists who have been able to replicate that.
