It's been a topic on conversation in the jazz community recently. I almost got involved, but then decided not to, mainly because I hadn't yet seen this video, from an article in The Atlantic by Brian Mockenhaupt, titled "The Last Patrol":
A US Army patrol in Afghanistan might be just about the farthest thing from jazz and jazz critics on the planet. But Mockenhaupt is right on about those who write about medicine or courts not having to be doctors or lawyers. I don't think that critics need to be musicians to write well about jazz, or any music. But as Mockenhaupt says, it can add another dimension to that writing.
And there's my very belated two cents on that issue!
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