Klarinet Archive - Posting 000118.txt from 2004/09

From: Fred Jacobowitz <fbjacobo@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] Klezmer info
Date: Tue, 7 Sep 2004 12:33:37 -0400

Leila,
Who said anything about good or bad music??????????!!!!!!!!!! And,
who is telling you or anyone else what you can or can't play? I resent
that you are putting words in my mouth.

How does using an accurate, correct description of the style of music
have any relevance to the QUALITY of the music? Does anyone dispute that
Salieri composed in the same Classical style as Mozart, regardless of
the lesser quality of his music?
Please, read my lips (figuratively): Klezmer is a specific kind of
Jewish music just as Cockney is a specific kind of English.
To call other stuff, be it Jewish or "Klezmer-inspired", Klezmer is
1) dishonest, both artistically and commercially 2) indicative of
musical ignorance 3) insulting to those who have worked quite diligently
to learn the style, when some imposter plays the correct pitches to the
song and pronounces it Klezmer.

Sincerely, (and not angrily)
Fred J.

>
>Although it's possible to label certain types of music as non-authentic (or
>hybrid or even fake) klezmer, I think it's also possible to recognize that
>music can be *good music* whether it altogether fits into a category or
>not. (Also, just because music is authentic doesn't mean it's good.) I'm
>uncomfortable with the whole idea that in order to earn respect, a musician
>must specialize, and then stick with that specialty in order to be accepted
>as "real," or that a person must be a native to belong. Music thrives
>between open borders.
>
>

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Klarinet is a service of Woodwind.Org, Inc. http://www.woodwind.org