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The Month In Jazz – July 2020

2:02 PM EDT on July 21, 2020

Black Art Jazz Collective
William Brown

Motown Records famously had a finishing school, run by Maxine Powell, where their artists were taught how to smile, how to dress, how to move both onstage and off, and generally how to conduct themselves like artists and entertainers. Sometimes I feel like jazz could use something similar. There are some folks who dress well and recognize that the audience can see them as well as hear them, but a lot of (mostly male) jazz musicians are seriously lacking in the style and visual presentation department. The photos in their albums all too often look like nobody told them it was Picture Day. (Note: the photo of the Black Art Jazz Collective above is an exception.)