Klarinet Archive - Posting 000867.txt from 1998/01

From: "Edwin V. Lacy" <el2@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: Music: Modern vs. 'Old'
Date: Wed, 21 Jan 1998 01:17:51 -0500

On Tue, 20 Jan 1998, Birch wrote:

> I'm presently studying jazz at college, where there is a lot emphasis on
> Be-bob. Be-bob can express itself only to those who know a lot about
> be-bob, which is why jazz fell out of favour with the 'average joe' when
> Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker came along.

You say you are studying jazz? May we assume that you are just beginning
that study? First, the term you refer to is usually spelled "bebop."
That's the way Dizzy Gillespie spelled it in his semi-autobiographical
book, "To Be or Not to Bop," and the way it is spelled in every textbook
on the history of jazz I have ever seen. Your last sentence in the
paragraph above, referring to Gillespie and Parker is one of the most
sweeping generalizations and one of the most mis-guided assessments of
jazz history that I have ever read. I teach a course in jazz history, and
am pleased to say that in over 20 years of teaching it, no student has
ever left my class holding such a myopic view of the most artistic
achievements of jazz.

> I quite dislike modern classical music as well as be-bob because it is
> music for the musician and the composer, not for the audience. These
> styles seem to loose sight of the fact that the primary intent of music
> is entertainment.

No, the primary intent of music is musical expression.

Ed Lacy
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Dr. Edwin Lacy University of Evansville
Professor of Music 1800 Lincoln Avenue
Evansville, IN 47722
el2@-----.edu (812)479-2754
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