The Music of John Bartee

To the questions of where is The Music of John Bartee ?   Why you posting about Earl Bostic?

I answer...  In so much as this site was created for documenting the life & work of John,  I am a part of it.  For me to find John,  I have had  to open myself to the world in which he traveled.  Music... its sounds, places and participants are all a part of John Bartee's Music.  For every artist is a product of the world around them,  their ideas and thoughts influenced by Life.

When one has listened to Charlie Parker and knows he was influenced by the sounds of Jimmy Dorsey it allows another perspective into the man & his music.

I have read many accounts of the history of the popular music and its not hard to see an evolution from earlier influences. Bostic had  Sidney Bechet, and Coltrane had Bostic.  Good music was a combination of talented instrumentalists & vocalists along with a composition / arrangement that shared their voice,  all being influenced by the vices & environments in which the Music was a part.  Then you had individuals like Raymond Scott whose creative abilities & ideas allowed him to see a world of music that would not be dependent on whether a man  had a true gift to play an instrument.  It wouldn't matter if the musician had the chemistry  to mesh with a group in an impromptu  jam, or whether he had just shot up heroin or smoked a joint before the performance.  Scott was a pioneer,  yet his focus was more on  the sound with his electronic inventions & recording devices.  Technology that was more forgiving then the live performance, and  masked the actual abilities of an individual.    But after 70 years, and all the innovative technologies to  shape the evolution of Music... it is clear that the heart & soul of the art still requires individuals that live the music,  even if the industry chooses not to produce it.

John's music is not about the the Paris Hilton's that go into a music studio where an electronic illusion is created of their abilities. It relies more on  the kid that picks up an instrument and practices for years without any promise of reward.  The musician that studies and listens to the music of the world because it is part of who they are.  They are the stewards of the True Music of Life,  the music that allows all  of it's audience a means to forget the problems of today and  feel good about what tomorrow will bring.

That is... the Music of John Bartee... the sounds & emotions of our world.

A note of another musician... one that takes me back to the sixties.... My folks weren't big music collectors but I at least knew the names of Al Hirt, Henry Mancini  & "Cannonball" Adderley from the few albums in the house.  What kid would forget a nickname like "Cannonball".  Chris Albertson who is a TRUE Music writer has a blog called,  Stomp Off  where he has posted a two part audio interview he did with Cannonball Adderley in 1969.  The second 30 minutes, part II is a must listen for all Americans... if not all Humans.

I leave you with the sounds of "Cannonball" Adderley, and his truly gifted fellow Musicians.  One day the electric will go out... allowing all the world to again play the great Music that never really died.