The Music of John Bartee

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

I answer...  Since this site was created to document the life & work of John, I'm part of it.  To find John, I have had to open myself to the world he traveled in.  Music... its sounds, places, and participants are all a part of John Bartee's Music.  Every artist is a product of the world around them; their ideas and thoughts are influenced by Life.

When you listen to Charlie Parker and know he was influenced by the sounds of Jimmy Dorsey, it offers another perspective on the man & his music.

I have read many accounts of popular music's history, and it's not hard to see an evolution from earlier influences. Bostic had  Sidney Bechet, and Coltrane had Bostic.  Good music combined talented instrumentalists & vocalists with a composition/arrangement that shared their voice,  all influenced by the vices & environments the music came from.  Then you had individuals like Raymond Scott, whose creative abilities & ideas let him see a world of music that didn't depend on whether a man had a true gift for playing 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 he focused more on sound through his electronic inventions & recording devices.  Technology was more forgiving than live performance and masked an individual's actual abilities.    But after 70 years, and with all the innovative technologies that have shaped the evolution of music, it is clear that the heart & soul of the art still requires individuals who live the music, even if the industry chooses not to produce it.

John's music isn't about the Paris Hilton who goes 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 who 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 lets its audience forget today's problems 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, a TRUE Music writer, has a blog called Stomp Off where he 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 the world to play the great Music that never really died again.