"I'm talking as a professional impresario. I'm not judging anybody at all"
About this Quote
A small sentence that tries to do a big job: it draws a hard line between taste and trade, morality and logistics. When Norman Granz says, "I'm talking as a professional impresario", he’s reaching for the authority of the working organizer - the person who books the room, pays the band, deals with promoters, and absorbs the blame when something goes sideways. It’s a reminder that behind every "pure" night of jazz sits a stack of contracts and compromises.
The second line, "I'm not judging anybody at all", is the tell. In cultural life, disclaimers like this usually mean judgment is exactly what’s in the air - or that the speaker is navigating a minefield where judgment carries consequences. Granz, who built Jazz at the Philharmonic and fought segregation in venues and touring practices, understood that the impresario’s power is both practical and political. Booking is never neutral: who gets hired, who gets protected, which audiences get catered to, which clubs get boycotted.
So the subtext reads like strategic positioning. He’s staking out a defensible role - not the preacher, not the critic, not the gossip - while still asserting leverage. It’s a way of saying: I’m here to make the show happen, and I’m going to speak in the language of professionalism because it forces everyone else to do the same. The brilliance is its coolness. Granz frames ethics as operations. In a world that loves to romanticize jazz as spontaneous expression, he insists on the unsexy truth: principles only matter if someone has the nerve, and the budget, to enforce them.
The second line, "I'm not judging anybody at all", is the tell. In cultural life, disclaimers like this usually mean judgment is exactly what’s in the air - or that the speaker is navigating a minefield where judgment carries consequences. Granz, who built Jazz at the Philharmonic and fought segregation in venues and touring practices, understood that the impresario’s power is both practical and political. Booking is never neutral: who gets hired, who gets protected, which audiences get catered to, which clubs get boycotted.
So the subtext reads like strategic positioning. He’s staking out a defensible role - not the preacher, not the critic, not the gossip - while still asserting leverage. It’s a way of saying: I’m here to make the show happen, and I’m going to speak in the language of professionalism because it forces everyone else to do the same. The brilliance is its coolness. Granz frames ethics as operations. In a world that loves to romanticize jazz as spontaneous expression, he insists on the unsexy truth: principles only matter if someone has the nerve, and the budget, to enforce them.
Quote Details
| Topic | Music |
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