Never saw it, even though at one time I cd’ve been a consultant on it. Another story. What I’ve heard from respected jazz fiend poets is too much was left out — i.e., any serious consideration of “free jazz” & that, indeed, Marsalis imprinted his conservative imprint on the narrative. All of this is okay w/ me. Have been listening to the music for six decades & no doubt have my own version of its story. What I do know is that it will forever remain a partial story since too many bands, players, singers never recorded & the history of jazz is really a warehouse of recordings, the evidence most work their stories, fantasies, idea & ideologies from. The “purist” label is not unlike the “academic” one — it’s a lingo ploy to one-dimensionalize a person into a type. Re: “Beat” bashing, all I know is how the music & its shape & rhythms influenced so many of American & international poets in their approach to the poem.
DM
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