fusion music (was Modzitz)

[parentheses <Sara.Marcus...>]

This objection to "fusion", on the grounds that the music stops being
Jewish, doesn't make any sense to me. Jewish music in different times and
cultural contexts has always reflected styles and idiosyncracies of those
times and contexts.  That's part of being a disapora culture: you can't
talk about being purely this or that, because you're always in an
engagement between levels of assimilation and cultural self-assertion.

I'm personally thrilled with the fusions that are going on between klezmer
and other musical forms.  The work Dave Tarras did in the 40s with the
"new Jewish swing" is being continued today by the bluegrass excursions of
Cayuga Klezmer Revival, the astounding punk rock virtuosity of Kletka Red,
and the sustained dissonances of David Krakauer's latest works - the likes
of which I was excited and gratified to witness at the Lower East Side's
Tonic last Sunday.  (Were any other listmembers there? It was so awesome,
and Naftule Brandwein's granddaughter was in attendance!) 

One could view fusion as a "dilution," I suppose, but to me it's this kind
of experimentation that dramatizes the ongoing juxtaposition of different
cultures that is unavoidable in a pluralistic society.

Sara Marcus

On Tue, 5 Jan 1999 Klezcorner (at) aol(dot)com wrote:

>                           On a purely personal note, I tend to stay away
> from ANY "fusion" or hyphenated music. I generally find that 'fusion'
> tends to dilute both of the styles that are being brought (forced)
> together.  I can see where a musician wants to experiment with music to
> reach a broader audience, but more often than not, they abandon(for
> Commercial reasons) their original style with which they have made a
> trade mark.  That does not mean that you can't update the music. Count
> Basie in the 40's is just as recognizable as he was in the 60's, yet he
> kept that "thing" that differentiated him from the others. 
> 
> Too many times the "Jewishness" gets fused out of Jewish music.