[Dixielandjazz] Re: Lasssus Trombone

G. William Oakley gwilliamoakley at earthlink.net
Fri Sep 17 13:07:59 PDT 2004


If "Lassus Trombone" is a racist song then there are a "helluva" lot of
racists out there.  A google search shows that it has been played by
military bands, brass quartets, marching bands,  and even Captain Kangaroo.
With no lyrics I am puzzled as to how its racist statement is made.  It was
written (1915) well after the minstrel period so that is out.
Puzzled,
Bill
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Patrick Cooke" <patcooke at cox.net>
To: "Richard E. Onofrey, Jr., CLU, ChFC, CFP" <reonofreyj at comcast.net>;
<dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Friday, September 17, 2004 12:39 PM
Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] Re: Lasssus Trombone


> Well this is a surprise to me!  I never for a moment thought Lassus
Trombone
> had anything racist about it.  I played it on trombone in my high school
> band back in the early forties.  It was just another chart the band
director
> handed out for the band to play.  If it had lyrics, I never heard them.  I
> had no idea who Lassus is/was and didn't give it much thought.  I know it
> was more fun to play than a lot of the other stuff we played.  I still
like
> it.  I think I'll start playing it again, especially since I now know it's
> politically incorrect.
>       Pat Cooke
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Richard E. Onofrey, Jr., CLU, ChFC, CFP" <reonofreyj at comcast.net>
> To: <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
> Sent: Friday, September 17, 2004 11:09 AM
> Subject: RE: [Dixielandjazz] Re: Musical parody
>
>
> >
> > I originally sent this out to the list, but erroneously sent it just to
> > Bill. . . . .
> >
> >
> > Ok, I'm typically a lurker, just soaking up the wealth of knowledge that
> > gets passed on here, but on this I have to add my $.03 (with inflation).
> >
> > Personally, I found the parody amusing, and have passed it along to
> > several friends.  I believe that in this day and age, we are all trying
> > to be so politically correct that it leads down the path of
> > ultra-conformity with no wiggle room for growth.
> >
> > One of the other lists that I subscribe to is a trombone list.
> > Recently, someone on the list asked a question about Fillmore's "Lassus
> > Trombone".  Well, let me tell you that the discussion about this piece
> > went on for almost three weeks!  Half the list was offended that anyone
> > was still playing this piece of music due to its "inherent racist
> > nature" and the other half was saying "lighten up, it's just music, and
> > a darn entertaining piece too!"
> >
> > If we must be politically correct in all things, we would all have to
> > remove our senses of humor, throw out all the Wagner records (after all,
> > Hitler liked them!) and get rid of an awful lot of OKOM music and
> > history.  Perhaps we should put in the subject line of posts in the
> > future something like:  "Musical parody - may be offensive to some
> > listers that are pro-whatever, anti-whatever, or simply thin skinned."
> >
> > Please, I don't mean to offend anyone with this email.  I'm merely
> > trying to point out that everything, to someone, can be offensive at
> > some time.  Just a thought.
> >
> > Rick Onofrey
> > Amateur Trombone
> >
> > "If it please your neighbor to break the sacred calm of night with the
> > snorting of an unholy trombone, it is your duty to put up with his
> > wretched music and your privilege to pity him for the unhappy instinct
> > that moves him to delight in such discordant sounds."
> >    -Mark Twain
> >
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
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> > Dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com
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>
>
>
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