Bruce Wands Comments Class 3 – Ken Burns Documentary

Bruce Wands Comments Class 3 – Ken Burns Documentary

I bought the DVD set of the Ken Burns documentary a few years ago, before I had decided to pursue the MA in jazz history and research. While I watched a few episodes, I did not get that involved with it. When I started the program in January, I began to work my way through it from beginning to end. I was taking the Jazz Literature course with John Howland, and it provided some additional information and another perspective on the material that was being covered in class. All in all, I watched certain episodes several times and went through the entire set two or three times. I was looking forward to this class to hear Lewis’s and my other classmates discussion and opinions on the series. This helped me to focus and redefine my opinions, as well as fill in any gaps that existed. I agree that the amount of time spent on varying time periods in jazz history was inappropriate and not egalitarian. While I feel that the period between 1900 and 1940, roughly speaking, was well done, the lack of material on current jazz and how it is still evolving did bother me a lot. Ken Burns seemed to have a foregone conclusion that jazz had a “golden age” and that contemporary jazz does not have as much relevance. The problem with this argument is that music, for example swing, was the contemporary and popular music of the day. However, in his defense, I did find that the linking of the history of jazz to the current events of the day and America history was useful to me. I also feel that I can now discuss this documentary with people in a much more informed and clear way.