[Dixielandjazz] By Ned, we invented the genre

[Ken Mathieson]

Hi All,

Great stuff! Toys getting thrown out of prams is always entertaining! For my two-cents worth (or tuppence-worth if you're in the UK), musical genres, like all art forms, have to continue developing to avoid stagnation, which would eventually lead to demise or preserved existence as a kind of museum exhibit. It seems to me that there are distinct phases in the development of a genre. 

It starts off with local (i.e. not global) roots and so quality performers are restricted to this group. But as the genre spreads into the wider world (and this happens rapdly nowadays, thanks to modern technology), it gets taken up by people from outside the original catchment area. In this second phase, there may be some players with wide-open ears and souls who take to it naturally, but for most, it will be a slow process of listening and learning from records etc. Move on a generation, however, into the third phase, and there will a significantly larger number of musicians globally who are at ease with the genre. Their personal talent will govern whether they can make their mark internationally, but the pool of people with some expertise in the genre will have increased hugely. This too increases the exposure of the genre to other musical cultures not present in the original source area and enables it to develop. Some of these might strengthen the tradition, others might be seen as undermining it, but the surrounding controversy helps keep the genre alive and in the public's awareness. So, when a genre has reached its third phase, quality performers can be from just about anywhere and can mix with those from the original pool without sounding out of place.

This phenomenon has occurred across all sorts of musical idiom, with a classic example being in the highly-competitive world of Scottish Pipe Bands, where the World Champion bands and soloists are now just as likely to come from outside Scotland, with North American and Irish bands having lifted the top awards in recent years. I'm not aware of anybody in the piping world saying that this is a bad thing or that only Scots have the necessary musical ability and cultural background to play the music properly.

My view is that jazz of all styles has long since reached phase three, so the best examples can come from just about anywhere.

Cheers,

Ken Mathieson
www.classicjazzorchestra.org.uk