tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35429900.post7127601050838702827..comments2023-04-16T13:53:57.295+00:00Comments on improvising guitar: bailey, the problematic pt. 0: preamblethe improvising guitaristhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07517613086214719180noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35429900.post-3149546348351184822007-05-17T14:35:00.000+00:002007-05-17T14:35:00.000+00:00Hey S- I continually adjust my comfort/discomfort ...Hey S- I continually adjust my comfort/discomfort level regarding the topic of racism as related to culture and art. It's the kind of area of analysis where people drop their rational pants at the door and assume all sorts of revealingly defensive postures. There isn't any way around heat in discourse about race. The trick for me is to just put out what I honestly think and listen to what people say in response, or more commonly, reaction.<BR/><BR/>PBPeter Breslinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15466530226652452872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35429900.post-9996308760133076602007-05-11T16:23:00.000+00:002007-05-11T16:23:00.000+00:00PB, if you haven’t read it, Bailey’s book is still...PB, if you haven’t read it, Bailey’s book is <A HREF="http://www.perseusbooksgroup.com/dacapo/book_detail.jsp?isbn=0306805286" REL="nofollow">still in print with Da Capo</A>. It’s definitely worth a read. I read a battered first edition ’round 1990, and it made a big, <I>big</I> impression. Problematic or not, it is still one of those books that I regularly recommend to others….<BR/>And, goddammit, when is Channel 4 (or whoever hold the copyright) going to release <A HREF="http://www.ubu.com/film/bailey.html" REL="nofollow"><I>On the Edge</I></A> on DVD?<BR/>Thanks for reading, PB (I’m bordering on terrified in writing this).<BR/><BR/>S, tigthe improvising guitaristhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07517613086214719180noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35429900.post-18541173171497319202007-05-11T15:16:00.000+00:002007-05-11T15:16:00.000+00:00hey S- Haven't ever read Bailey's thoughts on impr...hey S- Haven't ever read Bailey's thoughts on improvisation; looking forward to getting closer to what's problematic for you. The word "racist" is an important word and I think the whole topic of "racism" in Western music is a crucial one. Check the percentages for example of professional African American symphony musicians, let alone conductors. This was something Mingus (for example) lamented way back. Not that there's a level of musical success marked by being a symphonic musician, necessarily, just that the opportunities still seem sparse. <BR/><BR/>I usually think of racism as represented, practically, by theft. The co-optation of some of the aspects of "Black Music" by white performers who gain much greater economic benefit from their semantically depleted parroting. (as an aside, this is one of the aspects of Miles Davis from 1969-1975 that I find exhilarating; his insistence on plundering in the other direction, although the commercial rewards dropped sharply after his first forays).<BR/><BR/>anyway looking forward to more,<BR/><BR/>PBPeter Breslinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15466530226652452872noreply@blogger.com