The Jazz.com Blog
May 06, 2009 · 10 comments
Who is Grace Kelly?
Who is Grace Kelly?
I am not talking about the famous 1950s-era starlet (who became Princess Grace of Monaco in 1956), but rather the teenage alto player from Massachusetts who turns 17 in a few days. She seems to be everywhere in the jazz world these days.
Grace "is rapidly making her way up in the jazz music world. Grace's talents far outstrip others her age . . ." So proclaims the teenager's web site. And this is no generic MySpace page, but (like everything associated with Ms. Kelly) a slick, professional presentation. Much like her P.R. campaign, her new CD Mood Changes, etc.
Kelly has certainly earned some awards and credentials—an amazing number for someone so young. The honors and distinctions page of her web site is chock full of 'em. Has she hired a full-time grant and award application writer? How many sixteen-year-old musicians even know about the International Songwriting Contest or the ASCAP Foundation Young Jazz Composers Award or the IAJE Composition Awards? But Grace can put these, and many like them, on her shelf.
I am even more interested in learning how Grace got to meet so many famous jazz musicians. Her site features more than 200 photos of Grace, usually posed alongside some well known jazz star after the gig. How many jazz musicians, even established ones, get to hang out with Sonny Rollins, Ornette Coleman, Dave Brubeck and other hall of famers? I am impressed!
Ah, I wish I was more impressed with Grace Kelly's saxophone playing. I have been told many times that I should be impressed with it. Usually by a press release or email or starry-eyed member of the media. But I tend to bypass those and listen to the music when evaluating new talent. And what does the music tell us?
I give Ms. Kelly credit for not playing hoary licks and clichés. She avoids the obvious in her improvised lines, and that suggests that she has a strong ear and definite potential. She certainly doesn't try to dazzle the listener. Yet I would like to be dazzled, at least a little bit. Kelly is a very cautious soloist.
Her new CD—co-produced by Grace along with her parents—shows the scope of her ambitions. In addition to playing alto sax, tenor sax and soprano sax, she is now singing. She sings in tune and with a reasonably assured sense of phrasing. And I like her arrangements here, especially the overdubbed parts on her reworking of the old standard "Comes Love." But her sax playing never gets out of first gear.
I looked forward to hearing Kelly stretch out on "I'll Remember April" (see my review here)—whose fairly simple blowing changes and medium-up tempo give the listener a good platform for evaluating a young talent. The opening ten seconds are the best part of this performance. Kelly's tone is lovely here, sweet like a ripe plum, but unfortunately it gets more and more shrill as the song progresses. Her solo also seems to run out of steam as the track continues, and though this type of song is perfect for letting loose, Kelly is content to develop some simple melodic ideas, occasionally interspersed with phrases that sound like the start of something exciting . . . but the fireworks never arrive.
There is no problem with any of this . . . at least for your typical teenage sax player who isn't being touted as a prodigy. And I have no doubt that Grace Kelly will mature into a very fine player. But she isn't there yet. I take no joy in pointing this out. Yet when there are so many struggling young artists, who never get this type of visibility, someone needs to speak up and try to put matters into perspective.
Bill Kirchner, a very astute observer of talent, has shared this comment on Grace with me. "Grace Kelly is the latest entry in a decades-old roster of aggressively-marketed jazz wunderkinder; others have included Craig Hundley, Christopher Hollyday, and Sergio Salvatore. All have been characterized by good, if generic, playing skills and a media-genic cuteness. I believe it was the late Whitney Balliett who declared that jazz as a music abhors cuteness; perhaps because of that, the career durability of such youngsters has generally not been good."
In a few days time, I will return to this issue, and tell you about some alto players who are world-class talents, yet are working with very little publicity and support. Their music is hidden away on little-known self-produced or small indie labels. Their CDs are not financed by their parents. They don't hang out with Rollins and Ornette.
When I see a heavy-handed PR campaign for an under-developed talent, it makes me think of artists such as these and how deserving they are of some of the accolades, which are always scarce in the jazz world . . . except for those have grant-writers and well-financed support network at home.
This blog entry posted by Ted Gioia
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Thank you for the column. I have heard her name for some time as well as her credentials and the glowing reports, yet when I listened to her disc with Phil Woods, I couldn't see what I was missing. Maybe as it turns I was not missing anything -- I heard a good, exuberant and clearly talented young player, but I also heard some shrillness and tone I didn't like, and not a lot of soaring solos. Meanwhile, as a young player I much prefer Francesco Cafiso's work, but alas he is an Italian player who doesn't get enough recognition in the U.S.
two words come to mind: 1) Rich 2) Parents
quote: "Yet when there are so many struggling young artists, who never get this type of visibility, someone needs to speak up and try to put matters into perspective." Pretty much sums it up for me. Is it Grace Kelly's fault that she is young, cute, has a marketable name and (I'm speculating) wealthy/indulgent parents? Not at all... but it is just so frustrating to me that there are so many great (genius in fact) players out there not getting the kind of exposure that she is getting. It is not her fault that her age etc makes good copy, but for every story about her there should be ten more dedicated to true, mature genius. I also think that it is bad for the image of modern jazz to have a child getting so much recognition. My thanks go to Ted Gioia and jazz.com for being the voice of balance and reason.
Thanks for your candid remarks Ted and for the cogent quote from my pal Bill Kirchner. I thought that as soon as Wynton&Co. started approaching middle age, the circus would finally pack up and leave town and the jazz scene would get over its fling with child worship ,which is so pervasive throughout our society. Never mind the struggling young artists who aren't getting recognition. The really unjust fallout of this situation is the plight of the many mature artists who have paid the kind of dues that would send Ms. Kelly and others like her crying back to mommy and daddy if they had to endure for a week what many of us continue to endure after years of labor in the jazz trenches. Bill's comment about the futures of such wunderkinder is right on. Twenty years from now I'll be an 80 year old musician and there will be a bunch of 35 and 40 year old bond traders with horns gathering dust in some upscale closets.
I've been performing on trumpet with Grace for the past two years. I was also a member of altoist Greg Osby's band for 2 years, I've worked with AACM's altoist Matana Roberts and I've worked with many other great alto players including Will Vinson, Patrick Cornelius, and Soweto Kinch. It seems to me that many of you criticize Grace before you've really gotten a chance to hear her live more than once. Clark Terry told me years ago never to judge someone's playing until you've heard them live more than once. I subscribe to that and it works well for me. Cd recordings rarely do a player justice. I've been fortunate to work with many great and I can truly say that Grace is THAT GOOD live. When I first heard her, I had no other choice but to believe in reincarnation because I couldn't believe that someone that young could sound that polished. She's had great teacher in the prep. program here at NEC (where I've been teaching for 11 years), and her parents are very supportive without being overbearing. They support her in the exact same manner that a great manager would to a client. I will admit that there are some "prodigies" that are pushed out onto the scene, before their "time", but Grace is not one of them. Her time is now and I believe that she deserves every ounce of success that comes her way. She has a great attitude about the music, challenges herself onstage, and has a great presence onstage (intangibles that aren't taught in any of the music schools). So before you pullout the bottle of haterade on Grace, please take the time and energy to hear her live (more than once if you can, because we're allowed an off night), take it in, and then make an assement, and write about it. We'll be in Toronto this weekend. Jason Palmer
What a nitpicking, mean-spirited piece of writing. Grace Kelly is a talented young jazz artist. Her CD with Lee Konitz was a first rate affair. If it is a crime that she has the support of her parents, I guess she stands accused. The young woman has a youthful exuberance and and joy and zest for the music we call jazz. Her career durability is going to do just fine. The author of this piece should be ashamed of himself. He picked what he thought was an easy target and went after it. What a fool...
i'm going to see her at the rex this saturday in toronto. see you there jason. i just heard her on cbc radio 1 on the morning show and i am sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo excited to go and see her live. i grew up in the arts community and i am a visual artist but i have training in music, dance, theatre, etc...and i'm of her generation also and i think that soooo many of my firends and kids at my school would love this girl and her confidence and her music especially. wowzers. did i say how excited i was to see her. i heard the rendition of aint no sunshine and i really really really like the middle breakdown. thanks for the story ted...but that doesn't mean that people shouldn't go out and see her live or buy her record(s) or support her musical growth. us young people are just growing up in this world, and aren't on par or as wise or knowledgable as our elders. sorry for our youth and maybe for our unpolished talents, but give us some time and we may surprise you. good for her actually. i know MANY young people who would say that jazz isn't their cup of music style and they'd cite or refereance a pop musician or celebrity who isn't half as talented as this girl, but who can blame someone for their musical preferance. i'm going to manipulate everyone i know to go to the show at the rex with me. peace jazz.com.
Well, she's very good and impressive indeed FOR HER AGE. But why AGE has anything to do with if someone is whether good or not? Good music and players are always remembered and many others try to copy, imitate and study what this artist did, that's all. Does she have any of those qualities in her playing for any other sax players to follow her style? No, she has no style yet while she has good sense of traditional phrasings, tones and timing, she is an excellent student for this jazz idiom. Every artist matures at different age, at 14 or at 64 or whatever. Will she mature more? I don't know to tell you the truth, because some kind of wildness, passion, tone etc are something to be born with, but they cannot be studied or practiced, it is simply either one has it or not. Does she have that kind of quality to be remembered timelessly? For example, what would she play if she's thrown in to late 60's Miles's quintet replacing Wayne Shorter one night? That would certainly give some kind of justice to her playing to see if she's really good or just one of talented jazz students.
I don't like Grace Kelly's playing at all. I dont' see what all the hype is about. As far as young players in the U.S. that I know of, check out Levon Henry, Maximillian Zooi, Sammy Miller, John Egizi, Mike Gurrola, Austin Peralita,Justin Faulkner. Those guys are happenin'
I've heard Ms. Kelly on several occasions. I'm also familiar with many of the venues she has played at and know several of the teachers she has "studied" with. "Studied" is the marketing world has been redefined to mean anything from a photo session to actual lessons and Ms. Kelly is not the only over marketed person guilty of this misappropriation. Knowing the owners of several of the venues or their non-profit counterparts I doubt Ms. Kelly is not being paid much if at all. A review of her "tour" reveals that she is everywhere so this certainly is an expensive presentation on her part. Or should I say her parents who own a large boutique shop in Brookline. I would like to know who is paying Jason for all his expenses and time. Overbearing? Again, a term with a very wide definition. Ms. Kelly has not been picked up by any of the respected agents or agencies. ANd one agency specific to many of the current, great saxophonists is in her backyard. Why is that? Ms Kelly is talented and loudly promoted. Gifted? No. But there is a glaring, large void present in her presentation on her website and in her self promotion, one that I will not reveal. And this void will IMHO, make her a distant memory. Veterans of the jazz world surely see this void. Having spent time this summer listening to many talented and gifted Berklee students who are not possessing of aggressive parents and money I am encouraged that jazz is alive. One can only hope that this talent trumps the over marketed hype.