[Dixielandjazz] Free Form Music

[Paul Kurtz Jr]

Charlie, I’ve held off commenting on this topic because of the many, many who don’t like free-form jazz and modern stuff in general. I can’t say there’s a ton of it I like, but there’s one part of the baby I don’t want to throw out with the bath water. 

When I play for anybody including as recently as playing for a church service this morning, I try and put different chord structures and flows in there. I also put different scales in there, as long as they transition well to where I’m going. My material can’t be free-form because I’m working within an existing melody and chord structure. But, what I do with that is and can be helped by some of the things I listen to in some of the freer jazz licks. I can better do what I need to do with more variety. Augmented and diminished chords that can transition to different parts of a song but aren’t always used are good things to hear and know. So, I just use these as a stretching exercise or stretching exercises for me. 

Paul Kurtz Jacksonville, FL
> On Oct 19, 2014, at 5:08 PM, Charles Suhor <csuhor at zebra.net> wrote:
> 
> Okay, I get it--there's generally though not universally a low threshold of acceptance of free form music on the list. Understandably, since its title is "D(ixieland)JML" and the byword is "OKOM." Pluralize the K, and I’m good with it. I can enjoy good jazz from Bunk to Monk, as the old slogan goes (and beyond).
> By way of footnote to the strand, I'll add that experimentation in music, literature, painting, theater, film, or whatever, has always been met with hostility and ridicule by those who are comfortable with their conditioned tastes. Some innovative works, styles, and genres die a natural and deserved  death, while others endure to be enjoyed by large or specialize populations. 
> I also get it that even art that stands the test of time often remains impenetrable to large numbers of people. As a retired English teacher, I publicly confess that I found Faulkner’s "Absalom, Absalom" and Joyce’s "Finnegan’s Wake" unreadable. But I won't dismiss those works as nonsense or be flippant about the authors or readers who can respond to them with pleasure.
> 
> Charlie Suhor
> 
> On Oct 18, 2014, at 6:11 PM, Louis Lince wrote:
> 
>> Steve,
>> 
>> We don't often agree, but we don't fall out these days! You've nailed it with this one
>> 
>> Best
>> 
>> Louis
>> 
>> Steve said <polite snip>Al Cohn was asked if he listened to free form jazz. "No, I don't," he replied, "and I don't read books written by people who can't spell."
>> 
>> 
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