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promiscuous fusionizers
- From: JeffSchan <JeffSchan...>
- Subject: promiscuous fusionizers
- Date: Thu 09 Dec 1999 13.10 (GMT)
We seem to be having a classic difference of opinion between
traditionalists and modernists here. Although I consider myself
to be in the latter category, I am quite happy that there are
people around who try to keep various musical traditions alive.
Of course, there are problems inherent in both approaches -- the
traditionalists run the risk of making their tradition static,
and any culture which does not develop will die, while the
modernists run the risk of divorcing themselves from the culture
they are modernizing altogether -- Reyzl's point on the problems
of divorcing klezmer from its social context is a good one. One
of the interesting consequences of mass media is the destruction
of the distinction between "art" music and "popular" music, so
that pretty much any music can be performed in a concert hall or
a club or dance hall these days. The confusion in social
functions of music is going to take a bit of getting used to.
What troubles me with Henry's statement about "promiscuous
fusionizers" is that I have seen a similar dynamic in another
musical form: jazz. Wynton Marsalis has not only helped to
institutionalize traditional jazz, he has sought to ostracize all
those "free jazz" musicians who he feels have broken from this
tradition. This has led to a terrible divisiveness in the jazz
and black communities. Perhaps I am particularly sensitive to
this at this time because of the death of my friend Lester Bowie
last month, who was one of Marsalis' favorite targets for
derision (probably because Lester's trumpet playing was so much
more distinctive than Marsalis'). I don't know Henry personally
and am sure he doesn't go around attacking others the way that
Marsalis does, but his statement worried me.
I was also interested in Henry's use of the Ellington quote about
knowing the rules before you break them. When I was returning to
music after a 10-year layoff, I thought that way too, and began
learning how to play traditional jazz changes. However, I didn't
like what learning rules did to my playing, and so stopped. In a
lesson with Morton Feldman, he told me that a composer defines
himself just as much by what he doesn't do as by what he does.
At the time, we were studying counterpoint and Feldman admitted
that he never really got beyond first species counterpoint (one
note against another). He liked that method so well that he
decided never to go beyond it. I decided years ago not to learn
rules, whether they be traditional "classical," "jazz" or any
other theories. I listen to different kinds of music and take
what interests me in their formal, melodic and harmonic
qualities. When I want a traditional sound in my work, I hire
someone who knows something about that tradition. An example is
hiring Margot Leverett as a klezmer improviser in my cantata "The
Past Is Present." Then again, I don't label myself as a "jazz"
or "klezmer" or any other kind of musician, so as not to give
people the impression that I follow a specific tradition.
So while I like discussions like these, I hope we can all value
the contributions of those who have different perspectives than
we do.
Jeffrey Schanzer
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- Re: Ben Shahn and shtetls????, (continued)