[Dixielandjazz] New book: The World That Made New Orleans:

[Ken Mathieson]

Hi Folks,

The mention in Ulf's posting that New Orleans had been under Spanish rule much longer than it had been under French intrigued me. I have long wondered whether the flamenco guitar had any impact on the development of jazz. Improvisation in flamenco had been elevated to very high levels in terms of both technical command and artistic expression over a very long period and long before the advent of jazz. Was this culture evident in New Orleans and might it have shaped the thinking of the jazz pioneers? I'm not thinking here about explicitly Spanish musical idioms, although Jelly was convinced by their importance, but more about the whole concept of improvisation being something much more profound and substantial than mere embellishment, which exists in pretty well all folk traditions.

Regards,

Ken Mathieson
www.classicjazzorchestra.org.uk