I've often thought that jazz music seemed to be immune to the ethic of war---even a New Orleans street funeral "march"---until I happened on a Youtube of a C-130 "Spectre" gun-camera video---set to the music of Dave Brubeck's "Take Five". I had to remember, Take Five notwithstanding, that a large part of the "Great American Songbook" had its origins in WW2.
We in this generation have been disconnected from the practical reality of that, by the "generation gap" cooked up in the post-WW2 era, and the general process of time. Would seem to be a good reason to like and follow BeBop, GypsyBop, (to name a couple) and other forms of jazz that had a more contrarian & less warlike origin.
The system we live in takes the best of what humanity has made and perverts it to the destabilizing ethic of accumulation and subservience----and power.
About Me
- Michael Anderson
- I'm a musician in Oregon who's trying to connect the dots with food, government, spirituality, economics, and jazz. Comment is moderated, and posting of comments and links should not be construed as an endorsement of their content.
Seeing the Harry James band recently---"It's Been A Long, Long Time" was the most popular song in 1945----reinforced the revelation of American swing and war.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/aljazeeraworld/2012/05/201253072152430549.html
ReplyDeleteThis link takes you to new depravity...using music as a tool of torture. It gives a new perspective on the genre of heavy metal, or Doom Metal here, and the creatures that make it, and the other creatures who use it to torture. I have no respect for any of these so-called "artists", their head-banging military-worshiping (and actual military personnel) followers. But the program is authored by Christopher Cerf, who composed the theme from Sesame Street, who found out his composition was being used ALSO for torture at Gitmo and other black prisons of the U.S. gulag around the globe.
If turning "Take Five" into music for a snuff video wasn't bad enough...