on 7/2/03 10:34 AM, bsweet@umich.edu at bsweet@umich.edu wrote:
Good points, Skip, and I don't disagree. What I'm stressing--and I can see now where some clarification is in order--is that if a musician spends a period of time immersed in the study of musical elements, which are common to all musics, isolated from the dictates of styles and traditions, then he or she can apply the skills gained from that study in whatever musical sphere he or she intends to deal. One can then choose traditions and styles, but not be hamstrung by them. One can allow the musical circumstances of his environment (time, place) to inform his sound, but the expression comes from within (one's own sound) and frees the player from lickocentrism. It frees the player from resorting to what Roscoe Mitchell calls "pushing your groove buttons" or what Leo Smith calls "frozen information."
Bob
I find something inorganic in the idea of approaching the elements of something while disregarding various combinations of those elements. Where in nature is that possible? By the time any player is in a position to make those kinds of musical choices, he/she already has a history with the music we've played or heard. There are times when it is exactly the right choice to push the groove buttons or play the guaranteed licks -- the audience needs it, and it makes it easier for them to relate to the music (a familar hook shall guideth the way). That sort of frozen information is almost common language between the audience and the players. And the last time we tried to synthesize a new language to displace the old one, it failed. Or is there a colony of Esparanto speakers I missed? The Esparanto thing is kind of indiciative as to why I don't cotton to so much of what is called "free music", "creative music", "fire music" or whatever while I do give it up to Cecil Taylor. A lot of guys -- who I won't name -- got into a vibe of trying to show up with some stuff and represent it as the new language of their musical community. But it had not evolved over time the way real language had evolved from combinations of earlier -- imported -- languages and colloquial speech. A Player indicitive of this for me would be Jimi Hendrix. skip h