anymore.) Now you have us saying that a sine wave generator is more interesting
and exciting than a free jazz blower like Vandermark. I may or may not feel that way, but I wasn't judging Vandermark's worth on the basis of a comparison with Sachiko M, for example. They work in completely different areas, so I see little to compare.
I don't see what's wrong about comparing them on the basis of their perceived newness or avant-garde cred. And I sincerely apologize for the nerd comment to all the electronic experimenters working in a field I "just don't get"- I've had stressful things going on here.
Being able to "play" and being able to "make music" are not necessarily the same. Some who cannot "play" well according to the received definitions of playing can often have musical senses as compelling or better than the ones who "play" well.
In general, the electronic field does not speak to me- if they could turn their knobs and hit the keyboard in a way that did- I'd say they are as virtuoso as anyone with a more traditional instrument- but they don't. For me. Maybe you can recommend someone that does this kind of thing with an obvious passion- the Ayler of laptops! :~)
Enjoy your Vandermark, then. But Remco was right when he said that V's no longer avant-garde.
I guess I should have just said I don't care if he's avant-garde or not, I thought I did though. The point is the term means little to me- you and Remco can define it up and down, tell us who fits in it and doesn't- and it still won't. That term sounded like some kind of a blessing you give an artist, hence I got the impression you were interested more in innovation.
And Skip was right when he said that avant-jazz has become just another category of music with its own set of rules and practices, which isn't to say that the music isn't any good. Read carefully or else this will be just one more thing we just don't get.
So now we've spent several exchanges figuring out that Vandermark isn't avant-garde, and it hasn't changed anything, because no one really said Vandermark isn't avant-garde, but they LIKE him. So I'll say it- Vandermark is not avant-garde, and I like him. Maybe we're all happy now. ----Ryan Novak __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Sign up for SBC Yahoo! Dial - First Month Free http://sbc.yahoo.com