[Dixielandjazz] And the Saga continues with yet another voice The days the music Died

[tcashwigg at aol.com]

This is a long article folks delete now if you are not interested in 
some history about American music roots , if you take the time to read 
it you should also see great similarities in OKOM  as it evolved from 
Traditional Jazz in New Orleans.

The title of Mr. Wright's article alone conjures up thoughts of many 
Dixieland bands that I have heard.

If anyone is interested I will send them Charles Wrights Biography off 
list.

Tom Wiggins



      COMMENTARY - In The Absence of "The Real Thing, Almost Anything 
Will Do (by Charles Wright)
 (Charles Wright & Chuck D @ 2007 South By Southwest Music Festival )

   This is an open letter from our own Charles Wright. I am sending this 
out at his request. For any of you who may have wondered why he was 
selected to be on our Black Music/Culture panel at the 2007 
Philadelphia Black Heritage Festival/Soul-Patrol Convention, after you 
read this open letter, you will know EXACTLY why Mr. Wright was 
selected. He actually GIVES A DAMN ABOUT THE FUTURE OF OUR 
MUSIC/CULTURE. Mr. Wright will be coming all of the way from the West 
Coast to give it to you REAL and give it to you STRAIGHT.

   Read on....and feel free to circulate this one to anyone that you 
know who cares...

  --------------------------------------
  April, 2, 2007

  "In The Absence of "The Real Thing," Almost Anything Will Do"
   I recently attended and performed at an annual Music Industry 
Conference, which left me wondering about the state of we, the African 
American people's role in the future of the music industry? So, I wrote 
a letter to the conference's founders because, the conference left me 
wondering if anyone there, truly understood the significance of the 
African American's contribution to the modern music world.

  Gentlemen:

   Thank you for my recent involvement in your annual conference after 
which, I feel a personal obligation to compose the following letter in 
the name of posterity. Some of this letter might hurt but, regardless 
to how it sounds, I urge you not to take it too personally. Please bear 
with me and try to understand that, I honestly and truly have our 
collective interest at heart.

   First, I'd like to say that I know for sure that, I have put more 
time in and, have gained more experience in the music industry than 
practically, anyone who attended your last event. Yet, I was not 
offered a single seat on any of your panels so, may I venture to say 
that, were we members of any, other any other race on the planet, I 
would have without a doubt, been at the head of your list for panelist.

   I have been recording professionally since some, fifteen years after, 
some radio personality asked, Mr. Louis Jordon; "what do you call this 
wonderful music that you've created?" "Oh! Just a little Rock and a 
little Roll," replied Mr. Jordon, hence the birth of the term Rock & 
Roll Music.

   I performed on the first Rock & Roll show ever in Reno Nevada, 
starring Little Richard in the late '50s. I also remember when 
musicians of other races used to, approach us and ask us to teach them 
how to play Rock & Roll music. I remember a time before guitar and bass 
amplifiers became loud and, bold contrivances, contrivances invented 
for the sole purse of overpowering us and drowning us completely out of 
the industry but that was only the beginning.

   I don't know how many of you have visited one of those places where, 
they sell musical instruments lately, where the first thing you are 
likely hear is, a novice loudly, using distortion to cover up the fact 
that, he has yet to, master his instrument. In most cases, he or she is 
nowhere near actually learning how to play professionally.

   Yet, even before he or she learns, the first inclination is, to 
destroy the most beautiful intangible in all existence, our original 
Rock & Roll music.

   I say this to say that we the African American people created a 
multi-trillion dollar industry, which we brought here and, are 
shamefully allowing it, our legacy and, our collective entry into the 
financial marketplace to slip almost completely away.

   I remember when as soon as Rock & Roll became popular, its name was 
confiscated. Then with the aid of conceited bank accounts and industry 
moguls, the name was co-opted. But since, due mostly to their innate 
racism, other races of people rarely if ever understand the spiritual 
aspect of the music so instead, they insist on covering up that fact 
with loudness.

   All one has to do is to listen to the genuine Rock & Roll music of 
the '40's '50's and '60's. You may be surprised to find that most 
drummers played, softly with brushes and with lots of human emotions. 
The original dance music of the '40's '50's and '60' was pure. Pure 
soulful music does not require loudness to be heard or felt. People 
more often than not, played that music on mere four by six inch 
speakers yet, it could be heard and felt throughout the immediate 
neighborhood.

   If we are to retain our legacy, the legacy of Duke Ellington, Count 
Basie, Louis Jordon, Little

   2. Richard, Chuck Berry, Fats Domino and the likes, our children must 
also become a part of that legacy and, they too must be thinking in 
terms of, preservation. Trust me; as soon as we have had enough rope to 
hang ourselves with, calling our women bitches and hoe's and, each 
other niggers, only the trash-cans of musical history will be available 
to us.
  Trust me.

   One more thing; the name and genre of our music has been shifted 
periodically just as, the name of our race has in order to keep us 
confused.

   The first new name they crowned our music with in order, to steer us 
away from our Rock & Roll roots was, Rhythm & Blues. After that, the 
name Rock & Roll became almost, totally synonymous with artists of 
another race and, has remained so till this day. Our music remained 
much the same up until the drum machine era yet, due to the name 
changes, it suffers setback after setback, i.e. Soul Music, Black 
Music, Hip Hop and Rap or whatever. Each time this happens, it put us 
at yet another disadvantage because each change creates yet, another 
state of (watered down) confusion.

   After the first name change, Rhythm & Blues and Blues Music became, 
synonymous on black radio station until, the power's that be decided to 
completely, take the Blues out of the equation by 1963. At that time 
when most, music industry people hung out at Revel's restaurant on 
Selma Boulevard in Hollywood, I was LA's youngest A&R director. It was 
there that I overheard a conversation between two black promotion men.

   I distinctly remember hearing one of them say, "My boss told me not 
to promote no more Blues records because he said, "The Blues is dead." 
The other fellow said, "my boss told me not to promote no more Blues 
either so, I guess the Blues must really be dead huh?" Hence the death 
of the Blues on black radio.

   At the very same time in history B. B. King, Lightening Hopkins, John 
Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters and other great Blues musicians whom, until 
then had rarely earned over $400 to $500 per night were taken off the 
chitterling circuit and, introduced on the college circuit. Where white 
colleges paid them what was then, a whooping $3,500 per night each, to 
display their skills.

   This was a two edge sword because prior to that, I can not remember a 
single musician of another race with the nerve to challenge the Blues 
on any instrument. At the same time however, the youth in our neck of 
the woods completely, lost their connection with The Blues. So, today 
should I challenge a black musician to play the Blues, he or she may 
play the notes but, rarely is there a slight of Blues in their 
recitations. That is, unless one of our elders cautioned them, to 
remain true to the craft. I hope you gentlemen can appreciate where I'm 
headed with this.

   Blues festivals today generate a multi-million dollar industry and, 
to our misfortune practically everyone can make a decent living playing 
these festivals, except for less than a hand full of blacks.

   In fact just as it is in the Jazz world today, many great black 
musicians have given in to, playing in the shadows of some mediocre 
musician of another race, who actually can afford to pay them ten 
times, what a black bandleader is able to pay. Still, it is my 
contention that even this is due mostly, to our own shortsightedness.

   In 1986 a fine bass player named Scott Edwards came to visit and, 
informed me that what he had to say came down the pike from, the big 
wheels in the record industry. "If you," he told me, "are black and you 
intend to continue to participate in the record industry, you must 
purchase yourself an electric keyboard and, an electric drum machine 
for that," he said, "is the only type of music black radio will be 
playing from now on." Hence; the death of Rhythm & Blues.

   3. I could not believe anything so blatantly racist would still, be 
uttered during the mid-eighties so, I cussed my friend out and told 
him, "black people would never, ever stand for no such none sense."

   I hadn't actually thought about how children will, buy practically 
anything you sell them and, especially when it's on the radio and, 
though I was actually right when, I said black people in general 
wouldn't buy into the ruse, the children who knew no better embraced 
the contrivances with glee.

   I was eventually forced to try it myself though I knew better, I knew 
it was just a machine so, I won't even mention the health ramification 
except to say an explanation here would take too much space. However, I 
did end up in the hospital, which I deserved for my involvement with 
something that had a brain yet, has neither a heart nor a soul!

   I was falsely trying to create a music which thus far had been the 
ultimate contribution to western culture and, which was unfortunately, 
being diminished to, talking through a computer and, which I was 
helping to turn into, an imitation of a loud reverse "Rock & Roll," 
hypocrisy.

   I understand some of the young people at your concert last Friday 
thought, I was talking down to them when I mentioned this but, the 
truth is, this is such an intricate and an important matter, much too 
important and much too serious to speak on without, truly giving it the 
time and care it deserves. Were this letter a complete editorial it 
would probably not entirely, cover the most important aspects of our 
dilemma.

   Gentlemen: what I am attempting to portray here and what I was 
attempting to, portray to your audience last Friday night would 
probably require an entire conference of its own yet, I am condensing 
it here to the best of my ability.

   In my opinion, we are struggling to survive the in marketplace today, 
because of the lack of the single, most important ingredient of all and 
that is, the lack of pure musical content it's as simple as that. Yet, 
we can not seem to see it objectively because it is so easy, to make 
cheap computerized recordings with, one man band drum machines

   First and foremost; the most important musical instrument in the 
entire world is and, has always been the drum, the very first 
instrument we were deprived of upon our arrival on these shores 
because, the drum was and still is and, always will be the world's 
greatest communicator!

   Today our youth has been tricked into believing the proper thing to 
do is, to play with one's self while making music. Oh! You can come up 
with all sorts of parallels and, by-products playing with yourself but, 
even a monkey has the common sense to know when it is masturbating. 
Playing music, which is what practically all other races of musicians 
are doing today, is paramount to, playing on a football or a basketball 
team. Where the entire team practice on, playing off of each other.

   This is what gives the game or whatever you are playing, a spirit 
but, once you take the spirit out of anything it dies and it eventually 
fades away. I don't know why this is so difficult for us, the most 
spiritual people on the planet to comprehend! Yet, I have approached 
some of the greatest black musicians about this and guess what; 
practically none of them want to agree. We must be watching something 
subliminal on our television sets, designed to blind us or something!

   Why can't we plainly see that we have strayed away from, the only ace 
in the hole we have for some, twenty six or seven years now and that, 
practically everything we are presently doing is taking us deeper, and 
deeper into depression and self destruction?


   4. Isn't there something clearly wrong when, grown men by the 
hundreds converge upon a hotel lobby in New Port Beach, calling each 
other niggers, Hoes and, Mother fuckers without even the slightest 
indignation? Or am I stupid? So, how did we slip from first class acts 
like Louis Jordon in 1945 to this in 2007?

   The very week before I attended the conference in question, I 
attended the SXSW Conference in Austin Texas. Gentlemen; there were 
over 800 live bands playing in Austin that week, all of them except for 
three (3) were white. Most of which must've been making good money 
playing our music because, it cost anywhere from $6,000 to $30,000 to 
get there and maintain, depending on where you came from. To show you 
how much we have lost I challenge you, to find ten successful (non-hit 
recording) black groups in the whole of the United States who, could 
spend that kind of money in order to attend a conference!

   Our thinking is currently so twisted until one would suggest that, we 
the elders can not relate to the youth when, in fact, without the 
guidance of elders the youth will never be able to relate to reality. 
Oh! A few of them may be able to make a lot of money for a little while 
but, in the long term we will all lose everything because, lessons from 
the elders to the youth is, a natural progression and, this my friends
  will never change.

   So, isn't it time we face ourselves with these most important 
questions and, at least begin to deal with them in a realistic manner 
or, should we continue sliding on down the ramp? By the way, have any 
of you been to these schools lately as I have or, to a young person's 
function or, am I the only person in the industry whose noticed that, 
our children have lost their sense of rhythm? Have we become so greedy 
and lopsided until we can not see or not care what, we are doing to our 
children?

   I talked to some of the young people who attended and performed at 
your conference last week and, trust me they are lost. But, not only 
that; they are also truly yearning to be found but, due to short 
sightedness and greedy leadership, they are becoming more and, more 
lost in race.

   I could go on and on but, in my effort to spare you let me remind you 
of this most import factor; Muhammad Ali would have never won a single 
fight without his superior sense of RHYTHM. God bless our children 
because, thanks to us without a future, they are going to need much 
than more blessings at the rate we're going just, to survive the next 
half century.

   Respect is something you can not demand until you've earned it so why 
not, earn the respect of the entire world by focusing on this, the one 
industry that we have always excelled in. I mean really focus with the 
intent of winning back our legacy.

   Together we can amass the necessary revenue in this field, to 
recapture the marketplace singing and rapping out positive messages, 
layered over pure, funky live music. And instead, of these "Me, Me, 
Me," recordings why not pick and choose our quest and, speak on 
subjects that will lift everyone up and, write lyric we can all relate 
to and take pride in? The only reason an artist has, to be play loud 
and use ultra vile language or, expose themselves at half time of a 
football game is, because their music is suffering from a lack of 
genuine substance.

   We should be focusing on taking care of the people of Katrina and, 
the children of Darfur, all on our very own; plus just as, we should be 
doing anyway. We have inspired the entire world to sing and to dance 
but, somehow we've lost our souls along the way however, once we find 
ourselves and actually, re-learn how to love ourselves and, to believe 
in ourselves, there is no limit as to what we can do or, how far we can 
go.

  Sincerely, Charles W. Wright
  www.expressyourself.net

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