Keeping it real

I watched the documentary Miles Electric: A Different Kind of Blue tonight, having seen the first half two years ago at the Rochester International Jazz Festival. About 25 minutes in, percussionist and Miles sideman Mtume drops this:

You cannot create new music without access to new colors. Unfortunately, jazz — to me — stopped developing when the premier jazz creators did not want to accept the reality of electronics. Look man, when the piano, the tempered scale, was created — the 440 — that was the synthesizer of its time. I’m sure there were some harpsichord players walking around talking about “they’re not keeping it real.”