Post articles offer two views of Saint Louis Jazz Festival

Is Dave Douglas a famous jazz trumpeter?
Post scribes can't seem to agree.

To their credit, the Post-Dispatch covered the upcoming US Bank Saint Louis Jazz Festival from a couple of different angles this weekend. Pop music critic Kevin C. Johnson's article dealt mainly with the Fest's finances, attendance and booking policies, while Calvin Wilson wrote a profile of trumpeter Dave Douglas, whose Quintet will perform on Saturday afternoon.

But while the Post does get points for the quantity of their coverage, neither article offers much in the way of new information. Johnson does break the news that primary sponsor US Bank has already agreed to underwrite the Festival for the next two years. But the rest of the piece basically rehashes the financial and attendance ups and downs of the past five years from the Festival organizers' point of view, something that's been done at least a couple of times now. Meanwhile, Wilson's article is essentailly a recap of Douglas' biography, including a refutation of the tired old "Douglas-as-the-anti-Marsalis" meme. While it's written well enough, it doesn't tell you much you couldn't learn from the trumpeter's own Web site.

Now, this is a site about music, not media criticism, but there were some other things here that struck me as strange. Johnson's piece contains quotes from executive director Cynthia Prost and Jazz at the Bistro's Gene Dobbs Bradford, who helps book acts for the Festival, that seem to respond to criticism of the Fest's booking policies. But the explanations must be intended as preemptive, because none of those critics are actually quoted in the article. Instead, there's some padding in form of unenlightening quotes from the former program director of Smooth Jazz 106 and someone identified only as "music fan Barry Siegel." (Are readers supposed to know who Mr. Siegel is? Am I?)

If this is in fact a controversial issue - and if it isn't, it probably should be - wouldn't it make sense to actually interview someone whose views differ from those of the organizers? (As you may recall, I have some definite opinions of my own on the subject, but I can't be the only one.)

Johnson also writes that many jazz festivals are now diversifying their lineups to encompass non-jazz acts "including the biggie, the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival." The New Orleans event has always included blues, soul, gospel and other forms of roots music, so it would seem to be an odd example to cite in this instance.

And then there's this:

"The festival lineup presents another annual hurdle to jump. Some fans want recognizable names such as Bryson, Monheit and Hargrove, and scratch their heads over Douglas and Los Hombres Calientes."

Now, compare that to the lede from Wilson's article:

"Dave Douglas has to be among the hardest-working performers in jazz. The Grammy-nominated trumpeter has recorded scores of albums for numerous labels, fronted quite a few bands of various configurations and performed in clubs, concert halls and festivals throughout the world."

So is Dave Douglas famous, or not? Like so many things in life, I guess it depends on who you ask. I like the notion of offering a package of stories on the Fest, but in this case, it seems to have bred confusion rather than clarity.

I'll have much more on the Festival later in the week, including a link to my own article about Douglas, which will be published in this week's Riverfront Times.