[Dixielandjazz] Jazz? Tunes or Language?

[Dan Augustine]

     Language can only go so far.  For example, we all know what a 
'chair' is.  We can point to one, sit in it, and know what others 
mean when they say 'chair'.
     So then someone comes along and creates what he says is a 
'chair', but it consists of a metal pipe that rests on boxes.  Well, 
yeah, you can sit on it all right, but it sure doesn't look like what 
most of us mean when WE say the word 'chair'.
     Words get a lot trickier to define when we move away from 
tangible objects that we can point to when we describe them.  Words 
like 'love', 'honor', 'hot', 'bitter', and so on refer to things we 
may all have felt, but can't point to.  We tend to disagree a lot 
more about how to define them, but still, a lot of the time we can 
verbally 'point' to examples of them in literature, drama, cooking 
and so forth, and usually arrive at large areas of agreement on what 
is what.  So then someone comes along and says that 'honor' is a man 
beating a rug with a shovel.  What?  Well, maybe for HIM that's 
'honor', but most people would not agree.
     The trickiest words to define are those that refer to art, to 
politics, to religion, and to various aspects and types of these. 
Paintings by Monet might not have been called art in the Renaissance, 
and the music of Stravinsky caused riots in the early 20th century. 
I had a music professor back in the 1970s who said that 'music' was 
"any wanted sound".  Boy, i sure took issue with that, as would 
perhaps the majority of listeners.
     There comes a point where we have to think about how many people 
would agree on a word's definition, and pointing to an example of it 
helps the more abstract the word is.  When we try to define the word 
'ragtime', for instance, pointing to examples by Scott Joplin help a 
lot.  Someone is always free to call hitting various pots and pans 
'ragtime', of course, but that doesn't mean that everyone has to 
accept it as 'ragtime'.
     Enough soapbox (q.v.).

     Dan
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>Date: Mon, 10 Sep 2007 09:48:18 -0400
>From: Steve Barbone <barbonestreet at earthlink.net>
>Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Jazz? Tunes or Language?
>Cc: Dixieland Jazz Mailing List <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
>
>>  May I suggest that at least part of the definition refers to what it is
>>  NOT. If the number does not a melody which can be whistled or hummed, it is
>>  not jazz.
>
>>>  Wrong. Jazz is a language.
>>>  Any tune can be played in that language.
>>>  Understanding the language is the hard part.
>
>>>>  Ah! But if it is a "tune," it has a melody by definition.
>
>Semantic disagreement.
>
>Why? Who can define a melody that can be whistled or hummed? How many jazz
>fans do we know that are incapable of whistling or humming even the simplest
>tunes. And how many jazz fans do we know that can whistle or hum complex
>tunes that others can't?
>
>How many times must we hear "Coltrane is not Jazz, but Bix is". Or other
>similar nonsense. Is it our egos that prevent us from realizing that jazz is
>like a huge house with many different rooms. And there is room for all.
>
>Someday, perhaps the fans will quit telling the musicians what jazz is or
>isn't. Someday perhaps the musicians will stop venting to the press about
>what jazz is or isn't. Wouldn't it be nice if all of the self appointed
>experts quit foisting their narrow minded definitions upon the rest of us?
>It will never happen.
>
>I'm with Brian (I think he said Jazz is a language). Jazz is a complex
>language. And like any language, some understand only the basics, while
>others understand the nuances. Some speak jazz with the simple harmonics of
>regular folks. 0thers speak it with the complex harmonics of a William
>Buckley Jr. Big difference and there is audience for both depending upon
>ones level of understanding.
>
>Like "Copenhagen" or "Panama" is jazz. Yet how many listmates can whistle or
>hum the whole tune? So to is "Giant Steps", jazz. Who among us can whistle
>or hum that?
>
>What is Jazz? . . . Jazz is music to YOUR/OUR ears.
>
>YOU are jazz. And Brian is Jazz. And I am Jazz. Etc.. When any of us tries
>to make our personal definition of Jazz fit everyone else in the world, we
>will fail miserably.
>
>Cheers,
>Steve Barbone

-- 
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**  Dan Augustine  --  Austin, Texas  --  ds.augustine at mail.utexas.edu
**             "O Lord, help me to be pure, but not yet."            
**                     -- St. Augustine (354-430)                    
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