The Real Tragedy Here

I have assiduously avoided commenting on Michael Jackson as I could really care less.

There are scores of far more talented musicians who died far too long before their time through no fault of their own. I feel far more inclined to mourn the early passings of Clifford Brown, Michael Brecker, Lee Morgan, Charles Mingus, Gary McFarland and Bill Evans. But of course they never have gotten the attention of a Michael Jackson.

One of the sweeter benefits of living in New York are the museums. Although the major museums in the city such as MOMA, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Guggenheim, the Museum of Natural History and the Whitney Museum, among others are in Manhattan, many more are scattered around the city.

In my neighborhood less than a mile away is the Louis Armstrong House Museum. About a week ago Mercia and I were looking for the exact location of this museum during a bicycle ride. We knew we were on the right block and asked several  people in the neighborhood, none of whom seemed to know, Finally, I asked an African-American man and he looked at me strangely and said "How am I supposed to know where he lives? I don't even know him!"

Rather than explain I just turned away. With the endless coverage of the death of MJ, I still believe the real tragedy is that a young man had no idea who one of the greatest entertainers in the history of music was.

Comments

[Akaky]

Randy, if LA can be forgotten among the young so quickly, what does that say about MJ's chances for being remembered some thirty years from now? Satch was a musical innovator, a pioneer; Michael was deeply talented, no two ways about it, but he was mostly flash and glitter, two phenomena that disappear rather quickly. I strongly suspect that he will vanish from the national consciousness within the next couple of generations. Flash and glitter are easy to come by given the ease with which celebrities are manufactured nowadays.