[Dixielandjazz] What is Music

[Steve barbone]

I'm with Mike C. on this.

Music is what ever you are. If one has to master music before one can play
it I guess Jazz is not music. I mean, most early jazz musicians did not come
close to mastering music, before playing jazz. Early Armstrong included.
Many OKOM jazz musicians today have not mastered music.

They just picked up a horn and blow. :-) VBG.

On the other hand, most modern jazz players have mastered music as well as
their horns. Yet we deride them. What's wrong with that picture?

Harmony & melody? Who is the judge of that?  Right, except for oriental
music or all the other music around the world that none of us really
understand etc.

I mean, like wow, how pretentious to talk about what music must have.

Kind of like "What is Jazz?" Better musicians than we have always laughed at
such a nonsensical question. Any answer one chooses to give is not only
erroneous, but virtually meaningless.

It's kind of like saying "I can speak any language but Greek" So you talk to
me in German and I answer: "That's Greek to me."

Best definition of music I ever heard is that "music is a conversation". One
may not like it, call it noise, or not understand it. That doesn't change
the fact that it is a conversation because if the noise or music speaks to
one person, it is a musical conversation.

Right on, Mike C.  

Cheers,
Steve Barbone