‘Jazz,’ Pro and Con

I want to thank Don Heckman for saving me the 19 hours I would’ve spent watching Ken Burns’ documentary “Jazz” (“Not Exactly All That Jazz,” Aug. 6).

After reading that many musicians, including Erroll Garner, one of the legendary greats, “didn’t make the cut,” it’s pretty clear that Burns’ film is not worth watching. Claiming that Garner wasn’t a “seminal inventor” is one of the most ludicrous statements I’ve heard in a long time, considering that the pianist and composer was a true original.

If Garner wasn’t good enough for the documentary, I don’t even want to contemplate who else “didn’t make the cut.”

ANDY MARX

Los Angeles

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“Jazz” hasn’t even aired and already people are complaining about what’s excluded?!?

I’ve been listening and collecting for over 40 years and there are still holes in my music library. That’s part of the magic of jazz: It’s this huge buffet and the lucky guests can pick and choose what pleases them.

Perhaps we should be reveling in the fact that our beloved music is actually getting 19 hours on prime-time television. If “Jazz” is up to Ken Burns’ past performances, we’ll all be too busy enjoying the inclusions to even notice the exclusions.

DENNIS HAHN

Studio City

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I notice that Burns says of Louis Armstrong: “He is to music what Einstein is to physics and the Wright Brothers are to travel.” I would add that Ken Burns is to documentaries what Armstrong is to jazz.

RICHARD E. GOODMAN

Camarillo