[Dixielandjazz] Imitate - Assimilate - Innovate

[Russ Guarino]

I have a different thought about all this.

Each generation has their own way of doing things.

It would be truly weird if the nine or so [ 10 years each ] generations since trad
jazz was developed never did anything else but played, sang and danced  trad
jazz.  Everybody is still dancing the lindy hop, charleston and the balboa?  And
we are still singing "Boop-Boop-de-Doo"?  Nothing further came along after "The
Entertainer"?

It is not the nature of Homo Sapiens to just do one thing forever.  Maybe
Neanderthals, but not  Homos.  Trad jazz is not lost. it is still being played and
enjoyed.  It just must share the stage with a whole lot of other stuff that has
come along since then.  We are still listening to Mozart and Beethoven, just not
as frequently.  Every now and then I hear a Gregorian Chant tied into a product
commercial or a period movie.  None of these musical types ever died, they just
share time with everything else.  [ By the way, Gregorian Chants really sound good
].

Russ - don't ever stop listening to my clarinet- Guarino

Steve Barbone wrote:

> JT <jack.teagarden at comcast.net> wrote (polite snip)
>
> > Jazz trumpeter Clark Terry has a great piece of advice for aspiring
> > jazz musicians: "Imitate, assimilate, innovate." etc.
>
> IMO that pretty much nails it shut. Wouldn't we agree that there is
> virtually NO really "original" thought in life. That new thoughts are based
> upon a foundation of old thoughts?
>
> Jazz itself wasn't invented. It evolved from earlier music genres. Bop was
> not so earth shattering. Harmonically, much of it borrows from (imitates)
> classical music and rhythmically much of it it borrows from (imitates)
> Ragtime. Then after some assimilation, it went on to innovate.
>
> Perhaps the trick is to balance that time spent in Imitation, Assimilation
> and Innovation so that one's jazz communication is in one's own voice and a
> bit different from everyone else's?
>
> All the Giants of Jazz are instantly recognizable when a listener hears
> them. Shouldn't we lesser mortals be recognizable too, rather than clones of
> the dead guys who preceded us.
>
> Cheers,
> Steve Barbone
>
>
>
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