Re: promiscuous fusionizers

[Kame'a Media <media...>]

"Promiscuous fusionizers"

sounds like another way of saying
"rootless cosmopolitans", to me.

Music lovers may be familiar with the history of "drums on the Opry" .
For many years, in the interests of preserving their "traditional" sound,
and giving their listeners what they thought they wanted,
the powers that be were adamant in keeping drums off the Grand Ol' Opry.

The advent of Elvis and rock and roll -- an offshoot of white and black folk
idioms --- took a big chunk of the  entertainment dollar  away from more
traditional "bluegrass Jesus"
musical acts.  When it looked like traditional country music was in danger of
forever
losing it's audience -- drums did not seem like such a big deal, any more.

Musicians will, if given the chance, make the music that is meaningful to them.
The audience owes it to themselves to stretch their awareness constantly.


Arts programmers need to have the vision and courage to present artists that are
not standard fare.

For Jewish and Yiddish musical culture to matter and flourish, the traditional
must be balanced out by the contemporary.  The musical creations of people
living today --whose art is an expression of their actual life, not some Ben
Shahn <shtetl- cum -Lower East -Side> fantasy world of benign, wise  rabbis and
kindly, old <bubbes> -- should be given more opportunity to be heard.

I look forward to new young musicians writing songs with titles like
"Rebuilding the Desktop" , "Flunked Out of Brandeis"
and "Thank God, Tests Negative".   Words and/or music that will have expressed
their experience in this world.  Then and only then will we have a vibrant, real
and meaningful Jewish musical culture.

Chiribim, chiribum.


Wolf



TROMBAEDU (at) aol(dot)com wrote:

> In a message dated 12/8/99 9:31:45 AM Eastern Standard Time, media (at) 
> kamea(dot)com
> writes:
>
> << In my experience, the word "promiscuous" is usually trotted out by the
> envious
>  and the vengeful in an attempt to besmirch somebody's character because they
>  are perceived as having too much or the wrong kind of close interpersonal
>  contact.
>  I don't like it.
>
>  Please, -- Kabalas, Alan Eder/Pesach Posse, Klezperanto, Neshama, et al.,
>  keep making more great, original and  "promiscuous" music.
>   >>
>
> I have to go with Wolf on this one. (See, we agree again) Without the
> promiscous fusionisers, African American music would be field hollers and
> basic blues. There would be no Duke Ellington, John Coltrane, Charlie Parker,
> etc. I agree that bringing a personal approach to Folk idioms has to result
> in good music for us to agree that it is good, but that doesn't invalidate
> the technique itself.
>
> Jordan
>



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