[Dixielandjazz] By Ned, we invented the genre

[Dave Gannett]

Wow, you all are making this thing so complicated, when it's so simple. 
But's it's cool to get all these varying perspectives based upon 
misunderstanding of the original premise.


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Ken Mathieson" <ken at kenmath.free-online.co.uk>
To: "David Gannett" <evidence at otelco.net>
Cc: "Dixieland Jazz Mailing List" <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Sunday, July 12, 2009 11:31 AM
Subject: [Dixielandjazz] By Ned, we invented the genre


> 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
>
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