If a critic or listener doesn’t like my treatment of a particular standard, that in itself is not a problem for me. Maybe it’s too inside for his/her tastes, maybe it too outside for someone else’s taste. What disturbs me is the preconception that if the material is based on a standard, then by definition it cannot be used in a way that is creative or worthwhile musically.
It’s equally absurd to argue that, because the material is drawn from a particular time and place, that the art created from that material is limited to the aesthetic of that time and place.
The idea that the raw material one uses to create art automatically creates bad art is as absurd as the idea that one’s choice of raw material automatically creates good art.
If you don’t like the music, that’s fine. But don’t blame melodies that people still listen to after 60, 70, 80 or more years.
All of the above was all on my mind even before I played at University of the Streets the other night with Hilliard Greene’s In and Out Ensemble, a trio which that night included Gerald Cleaver on drums. Hill’s concept of the trio is to play standards in a way in which there are no preconceptions, no rules. We have two more dates this month (with Newman Taylor Baker on drums), and if anyone really believes that standards are too stilted or limiting an archtype, I strongly encourage you to come hear this trio.