tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526704657739088406.post6360648823456380431..comments2024-02-01T12:37:55.180+00:00Comments on Mostly music: Black and White?Ronan Guilfoylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02668316692753726447noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526704657739088406.post-80020053003964650812011-02-25T00:03:44.659+00:002011-02-25T00:03:44.659+00:00surely socio-economic factors are an important con...surely socio-economic factors are an important contributor? <br />Take Miles, by the end of the 60s he was sick of playing small clubs (that mostly whites could afford to go to), three sets a night, for relatively little money. Billy Graham took him to a large, white, middle class, rock audience, and in doing so, turned a lot of people on to improvised music. <br />I would argue that this white middle class audience was crucial to the music's survival, even if it was, during the 70s, fusion, that became the main attraction. <br />Also, jazz was once dance music, what percentage of the black listening public at one time associated jazz exclusively with dancing and entertainment? <br />Be-bop marked the beginning of what was essentially the intellectualisation of jazz, it became listening music, art music, not music to dance to. How did this impact the average (non musician) African American's engagement with the music? The Blues, R&B Gospel, Soul, and then Funk, were all more accessible, the music still spoke to people at a level they could relate to, while "jazz" increasingly became music for bourgeois bohemians, especially in Europe. <br />I haven't read the book mentioned above, but my personal view is that ethic origin is absolutely irrelevant, great musicians come in all colours, shapes, sizes, in all walks of life, and traditions of music. <br />Focussing on one narrow area of the music world, that most people insist on calling "jazz," and then arguing about "whose it is," is counter productive, no one owns music.<br />To quote Busoni: "Music was born free; and to win freedom is its destiny."Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17280586383035912175noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5526704657739088406.post-73719032661119156422011-02-06T12:04:53.246+00:002011-02-06T12:04:53.246+00:00Right you are, Ronan . . . there is an amazing amo...Right you are, Ronan . . . there is an amazing amount of furor over Sandke's book. I think a lot of it arises from people seeing the 'Black and White' theme and they immediately think black vs. white, which is not the case at all in Randy's book. He documents the development of the music, and gives insights into social context, plus what various critics wrote, or are writing about the music.<br /><br />He addresses the topic that you put forward about the waning black audience and the future of jazz audiences. In my opinion, he is addressing many of the same ideas found in Alyn Shipton's "A New History of Jazz," Stuart Nicholson's "Is Jazz Dead" and Richard Sudhalter's "Lost Chords."<br /><br />I played a lot with Randy in the '80s and '90s when I was in New York (before I moved across the pond). He is a brilliant player, composer, and a good author who is trying to make his contribution to the music.<br /><br />I think a lot of the furor is overreaction to perceived subject matter -- what people think the book is about -- rather than an open discussion about what he writes in the book. Even though Howard Mandel trashed the book in various blog posts, he did give it a 2 Star review at amazon:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Where-Dark-Light-Folks-Meet/product-reviews/0810866528/ref=cm_cr_dp_synop?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=0&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending#R273ZHIQ18VO4B" rel="nofollow">Where the Dark and Light Folks Meet (Amazon Reviews)</a> <br /><br /><br />So, Howard does offer a couple of backhanded compliments on the book, even though he does not agree with the other amazon reviewers (myself being one of them).<br /><br />I'd just recommend that people read the book.<br /><br />Nice blog you have here, by the way!<br /><br />John GoldsbyJohn Goldsbyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15667172352621308952noreply@blogger.com