[Dixielandjazz] Fw: [TPIN] Re: jazz and communication

[Bob Romans]

"BEBOP is intellectual music of the highest order"...?
see below...hm-m-m-m
Bob Romans
Cell Block 7
Jazz Band
1617 Lakeshore Dr.,
Lodi, California, 95242
Phone.....209-368-3255
Cell...209-747-1148
Fax...209-368-3255
WebPages..click below
www.cellblockseven2002.net
-----Original Message-----
From: Albert L. Lilly III <alilly@scican.net>
To: tpin@parnassus.dana.edu <tpin@parnassus.dana.edu>
Date: Wednesday, June 12, 2002 10:30 AM
Subject: [TPIN] Re: jazz and communication


>I tell my kids to think of the different eras of jazz like romance 
>languages (those whose main derivative is from Latin, including 
>Spanish, French, Italian, etc.).  While each language has its own 
>words and nuances, there are many similar words and similar meanings. 
>If you look at early Armstrong through swing, this pretty much holds. 
>Bebop is like English in its relationship to the romance languages. 
>Many words have a similar derivative and much of our language is 
>derived from the Latin, yet other parts are derived from German, 
>Russian, and many other languages.  Because of this, a pure French 
>speaker may be able to understand and be somewhat conversant in the 
>other languages, but the ordering of words, the style of speech, and 
>the multiple language additions to the English language makes it 
>almost impossible to follow.
>
>Bebop to the swing era was a deeply troubling music.  It was 
>intellectual music of the highest order, but not simply to be 
>intellectual.  The vocabulary had become so complex that people had 
>to be conversant in the language in order to understand the 
>expression.  Those without the understanding (and I include Miles in 
>this group) never were comfortable in the idiom.  That lead to the 
>cool, and so on.  Listeners who weren't knowledgeable or at least 
>interested were also less impressed with bebop than swing.
>
>While it is clear that this isn't a "cut and dried" discussion, it is 
>also clear that this happens in all forms of music and art.  Warhol's 
>Campbell's soup can was popular, the L-O-V-E shape was popular, but 
>the Scream is less popular and harder for some to understand. 
>Beethoven plays in concert halls every day in America, so is Mozart. 
>Try and find daily performances of Schoenberg or Stravinsky.  You 
>might hear them occasionally on a college campus, but I have lived 
>and played in the Indianapolis area for my entire life, and I can't 
>recall the last time the Indianapolis Symphony played Schoenberg. 
>They have a Beethoven series nearly every year.
>
>Bebop suffered a similar fate.  While the devoted listeners like it 
>and still do, the general public would for the most part rather hear 
>Glenn Miller, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, the Dorseys,  or even for 
>that matter Kenny G.  Is it better music?  Is it an expression or a 
>reaction?  For truly expressive playing to occur, does the medium 
>matter?  Expression can happen in any form of music.  The real 
>question is, can we accept that as expressive?
>
>AL
>-- 
>_________________________________________________________
>Albert L. Lilly III - mailto:alilly@scican.net
>Trumpeter, Brass Clinician, Arranger and Composer
>Calendar Editor, International Trumpet Guild  http://www.trumpetguild.org
>Centennial Brass home page - http://www.scican.net/~alilly/centbrs.html
>Lilly Music Services -  http://www.scican.net/~alilly/engr.html
>Personal home page - http://www.scican.net/~alilly/alilly.html