Artistic integrity

Last night, while listening to the Radio Paradise, I heard what sounded like Billie Holiday’s voice, yet the background was very modern electronic music. I went to their website to see what the song was—sure enough it was Billie Holiday singing Speak Low and the song was from the album Verve/Remixed3.

Apparently Verve opened their archives and allowed certain DJs and producers to remix some of the old jazz classics. The goal, I guess, is to turn the old classics into contemporary hits. And that seriously troubles me. I didn’t like it when Natalie Cole started tampering with her father’s old recordings and I don’t like hearing Billie Holiday singing along with electronic music that comes out sounding more like muzak than music.

These recording artists are dead and they have no say over how their work is mutilated. Just because the technology exists to do it doesn’t mean it should be done. These old recordings are works of art and they should be allowed to stand as they are. To me, it is much the same thing as a contemporary artist messing around with a classic painting to update it for contemporary tastes. Or adding special effects to film footage of one of the great ballet performances. Or messing about with a great artist’s aria.

Once a single feature of an artist’s work has been changed, it second guesses their intent. It compromises their vision and art. It changes the nuances of their performance and the give and take between the artist and the original background. It’s wrong. I am disappointed in Verve for compromising artistic integrity in the interest of the almighty dollar.