Posted by jim beebe on February 07, 2001 at 11:39:42:
In a recent post of mine (Satchmo almost saves Ken Burns)I refered to Stanley Crouch, Albert Murry, Gerald Early and Wynton Marsalis as the Four Black Crows. Leslie Johnson, the editor of the Miss Rag has expressed an objection to my using this phrase. Leslie fears that readers and new visitors to this site may be offended. Let me say that I and many others were offended by the Ken Burns JAZZ Crockumentary which was full of racial invective against whites and anyone non-afro-american. These four guys wrote much of the narrative and their verbal commentary was used throughout the shows. The narrative and their commentary was full of unrelenting disparagement and demeaning remarks about white jazz musicians in general and certain specific individuals. In addition, lies and distortions permeate the narrative and commentary. The Two Black Crows were a comedy team pre-Amos & Andy and much funnier. The dialog from Crouch, Marsalis, Early and Murray is so full of BS they are like a comedy act, hence the Four Black Crows. If anyone is offended by this may I suggest that they really should be offended by Ken Burns travesty and not some lame joke remark that I made.