[Dixielandjazz] RE: MAYBE THE MESSAGE IS THE MEDIUM FOR OKOM

[DWSI at aol.com]

Hey, Steve Barbone, you do have a  way with words (and probably music too). I 
learned a lot in this exchange,  and I hope others got something of value 
from it. As far as John Farrell  goes, why should we leave his music off the 
question list? Defining stride is  just as elusive to me as trying to define 
Dixieland, ragtime, or just  plain jazz when we get down to the nitty gritty of 
structure. Having said that,  I know that someone will step up and disagree with 
me (again) but that's  okay. The DJML can always form a committee to 
officially define any of  these terms and decide should be appointed to the official 
Dixieland  Police.(Do you carry a gun or a washboard?). 
 
Trying to be serious for just a moment,  there might be a useful approach to 
defining something we can live with.  Let me try this one out: I propose that 
what we think of Dixieland, (or for  that matter rap, or cool jazz, or even 
stride piano), as "styles of playing" or  MEDIA (the plural of medium). I like 
that word because I can then quote  Marshall McLuhan's famous phrase, the 
medium is the  message, when talking about our favorite music. Isn't that  what 
most so-called "types" of music really are? We all know that you can play  damned 
near any song in a Dixieland style. Well, you can also say that you can  play 
almost any song (maybe even any song) in the classical style, ragtime  style, 
danceband style, and many other styles as well. I read a story  once of a 
well known ragtime performer playing Rachmaninoff's Prelude in C#  Minor in 
ragtime, in the presence of the great composer himself, who later  came up and 
commented; "Nice melody but you got the rhythm all  wrong." 
 
Thanks to all the comments and support, I  see the style of the medium as the 
most defining part now. Thanks,  guys.
  
 
 
 


 
Dan (piano fingers)  Spink