On Tue, 22 Apr 2003 00:51:55 -0700 "serge dautricourt" wrote:
i was listening to "Blowing in from Chicago" by Clifford Jordan and John Gilmore. I was really digging the improv of the two horns, but something kept me from enjoying the music more. I incidentally fell upon this quote by John Cage from the Silence list:
http://www.newalbion.com/artists/cagej/silence/html/1996q1/0104.html
...and realized that it was the incensant steady beat that bothered me about most bop-based jazz, and hip-hop for that matter. i am curius to know what other people on this list thing about Cage's statement.
But an Indian fakir can also claim that a bed made of nails is more comfortable than one made of feathers. Once you realize that pleasure is not what interests Cage in music, you can buy almost anything he says (since many of his statements could apply equally to any form of artistic expression). But for most of us (people on Earth), music cannot survive without a minimum of "hooks", of which rhythm and melody are the most successful (to keep our attention on). Anyway, what makes people feel that Cage has something relevant to say about music at large (as opposed to lab homeworks) since practically nobody seems to care listening to his music after more than fifty years. In many domains, this would be acknowledged as a total failure since the wrapping (the glose) ended up more important than the content (the music). Will Cage end up as another symptom of intellectual infatuation in the 20th century? Patrice.