For two decades, Wynton Marsalis complemented his extraordinary gifts as a jazz trumpeter with persuasive advocacy of the importance of jazz history and jazz masters. At his peak, Marsalis ruled the jazz universe, enjoying virtually unqualified admiration as a musician and unsurpassed influence as the music's leading promoter and definer. But after drawing increasing fire from critics and fellow musicians alike for his neotraditionalism, the biggest name in jazz faces an uncertain future, as does jazz itself.
In 1999, to mark the end of the century, Marsalis issued a total of fifteen new CDs. In the following two years he did not release a single collection of new music. In fact, after two decades with Columbia Records—the prestigious label historically associated with Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk, and Miles Davis—Marsalis has no record contract with any company. Over the past few years Columbia has drastically reduced its roster of active jazz musicians, shifting its emphasis to reissues of old recordings. Atlantic Records folded its jazz catalog into the operations of its parent company, Warner Music, and essentially gave up on developing new artists.
For this grim state of affairs in jazz, Marsalis, the public face of the music and the evident master of its destiny, has been accused of being at least partly culpable. Critics charge that, by leading jazz into the realm of unbending classicism and by sanctifying a canon of their own choosing, Marsalis and his adherents have codified the music into a stifling orthodoxy and inhibited the innovative impulses that have always advanced jazz. As a former executive with Columbia noted, "For many people, Marsalis has come to embody some retro ideology that is not really of the moment—it's more museumlike in nature, a look back."
Indeed, in seeking to elevate the public perception of jazz and to encourage young practitioners to pay attention to the music's traditions, Marsalis put great emphasis on its past masters. Still, he never advocated mere revivalism, and he has demonstrated in his compositions how traditional elements can be alluded to, recombined, and reinvented in the name of individualistic expression, taking the nature of that tradition and trying to push it forward. However, record executives came away with a different message: if the artists of the past are so great and enduring, why continue investing so much in young talent? So they shifted their attention to repackaging their catalogs of vintage recordings.
Where the young talent saw role models and their critics saw idolatry, the record companies saw brand names—the ultimate prize of marketing. For long-established record companies with vast archives of historic recordings, the economics were irresistible: it is far more profitable to wrap new covers around albums paid for generations ago than it is to find, record, and promote new artists.
1. Which one of the following most accurately expresses the main point of the passage?(A) Although he was once heralded as the leading promoter and definer of jazz, Wynton Marsalis's recent turn toward traditional elements in his music has made record companies reluctant to contract with him.
(B) Contrary to critics who accuse him of narrow neotraditionalism that stifles the evolution of jazz, Wynton Marsalis plays jazz that is new and innovative and his emphasis on past masters has widened the audience for jazz.
(C) Though Wynton Marsalis enjoyed great success for two decades, the shift in focus by record companies to re-releasing traditional recordings has caused him to move away from the traditionalism that initially fueled his success.
(D) By emphasizing appreciation of traditional jazz, Wynton Marsalis has unintentionally led major record companies to shun developing new talent in favor of re-releasing vintage jazz recordings.
(E) Despite widespread acknowledgement of his musical gifts, Wynton Marsalis has come under increasing criticism for what many regard as excessive traditionalism.
2. By stating that many people consider Marsalis to embody a "retro ideology," (Highlighted) the former executive quoted at the end of the third paragraph most likely means that they believe that Marsalis(A) revived a discredited set of ideas
(B) merely recombined other people's ideas
(C) overemphasized strict adherence to tradition
(D) reinvented and reinterpreted traditional forms
(E) seized on a set of inauthentic musical ideas
3. The author would most likely be less negative about the state of affairs in jazz if(A) critics were to soften their outspoken indictment of what they view as Marsalis's neotraditionalism
(B) Marsalis were to continue focusing on releasing new music that was informed by traditional jazz
(C) Marsalis were to speak out against those who describe his adherence to tradition as unbending
(D) record companies were to emphasize developing new artists while reissuing old recordings
(E) young jazz musicians were to favor a respect for tradition over impulsive innovation
4. Which one of the following describes a situation most analogous to the situation facing Marsalis, as described in the passage?(A) A town council's successful plan to slow the pace of housing development on its remaining rural lands has the unintended consequence of forcing housing prices to rise significantly faster than in neighboring towns.
(B) A well-known seed research firm aggressively markets new hybrid tomatoes designed to taste like older traditional varieties, but as a result, sales of traditional varieties skyrocket while hybrid sales decline.
(C) A producer of wool fabrics finds that business has increased substantially since synthetic-fabric producers have begun marketing fabrics that most consumers find less attractive than wool fabric.
(D) A firm that has been selling and promoting herbal medicines for several decades finds that sales are slumping because of increasing competition from upstart herbal products companies.
(E) A campaign to save an endangered fish species in a chain of lakes backfires when a ban on fishing in those lakes allows a predatory fish species to thrive and diminish stocks of the endangered species.
5. According to the passage, Marsalis encouraged young jazz musicians to(A) restrain their revolutionary, innovative impulses
(B) learn to compose as well as perform jazz
(C) play sessions with older musicians
(D) ignore the prevailing public perceptions of jazz
(E) stay in touch with the traditions of jazz
6. The author would be most likely to agree with which one of the following?(A) Ironically, record companies have embraced a kind of classicism that is more rigid than that attributed to Marsalis by critics.
(B) Contrary to what critics charged, Marsalis energetically promoted new artists.
(C) Understandably, Marsalis's fellow musicians have been more vocal in their displeasure with his views than have music critics.
(D) Surprisingly, most of today's young artists take issue with critics' increasingly negative views of Marsalis's neotraditionalism.
(E) In saturating the market with fifteen new collections of music in 1999, Marsalis made himself especially vulnerable to criticism.
7. The passage provides information sufficient to answer which one of the following questions?(A) In the two years after 1999, did Marsalis compose any new music?
(B) Are Marsalis's fans drawn mainly from younger or from older jazz lovers?
(C) Has Marsalis ever released a CD consisting of only jazz standards?
(D) Why did Marsalis have no recording contract at the time the passage was written?
(E) What is a factor that contributed to the shift by record companies toward reissuing vintage jazz recordings?
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18 Mar 2019, 12:10
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