Talk:Mezz Mezzrow

Point of View

I have added a POV check to this article. I do not know enough about jazz to correct the POV in this article, but I think it is clearly biased. It may be true that Mezzrow was "the least technically competent musician to have achieved recognition in the history of jazz." I don't know, but until this is cited, I think it is completely inappropriate for an encyclopedia article. I have not reverted to remove the comments, because the user who added this type of comments also added quite a bit of useful substance to the article. I do think that it needs to either be sourced or seriously edited.Lamontacranston 19:52, 4 August 2006 (UTC)

the Shadow - above - is correct about the unfairness of the characterization. it's my suspicion that Mezz has been relegated to the sidelines of jazz history specifically because of his involvement with marijuana....and his playing castigated for the same reason. based on three decades of listening to jazz, including the acknowledged greats, and listening to several of Mezz' albums, its my sense his ability was above-average. what would really be nice would be to have a contemporary recording artist of the jazz clarinet weigh in with a professional opinion.

Perhaps it is a matter of taste. I'd say he's a mediocre musician, who sometimes recorded with the greats (like Bechet and Ladnier) and did best when he mostly stayed out of their way, but occasionally rose to the occasion with some pretty good (though never brilliant nor virtuosic) stuff. My goodness, if Marijuana were an unforgivable stain to ruin a jazzman's reputation, how come Louis Armstrong is still in high repute, much less... (many names left out...) Mezzrow wrote one heck of a book and took part in a few significant recording sessions (at which he was not the best player present), but otherwise I'd rank him as no better than third tier or so. (Does anyone really consider him in the league of Goodman or Dodds?) Cheers, -- Infrogmation 02:56, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

I agree that the marijuana was probably not a problem. After all, Mezzrow was the dealer for some of the most recognizable figures in jazz (if his autobiography is to be believed). Certainly he does not have a reputation as a great clarinet player (I think most people have never heard the name before), but I don't think it's fair to say he was "the least technically competent musician to have achieved recognition in the history of jazz." I hope someone with more expertize in this area can weigh in.Lamont A Cranston 14:37, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

I edited the article to I hope be more in line with WP:NPOV. -- Infrogmation 21:57, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

Race deal

He's one of the only people I'd ever heard of to "choose to identify as black" in that era. Or maybe in any era as people claiming to be black or American Indian or what have you is usually offensive in this era. I assume it was rather strange then too, but possibly just seen as a personal eccentricity. How accepted was he in the black community? Did they just see him as some crazy white wannabe? (Which maybe he was, I don't know)--T. Anthony 03:52, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

It was sort of a solidarity thing in that era. Mezzrow, like Johnny Otis later on, decided to identify as black. The "wigger" thing that seems to bother so many now basically started during the "beat" era with the likes of Norman Mailer and his racialist "White Negro" treatise.JBDay 20:01, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

some notes on Mezz

I wrote a little essay on mezz a while ago. It is not obviously a 'source' one can quote in Wikipedia, although I did research it, but it links to a bunch of other sources that some Wiki editors might want to use. I am not actively editing right now but I pass it on to you if it is useful.