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Re: Names and Announcements
In a message dated Tue, 6 Feb 2001 12:44:52 PM Eastern Standard Time, Tina Ladner <unbornbuddha at yahoo_com> writes:
<<
secondly, thanks for the discussion of names.
interesting. the point that neither of you addresses
however is that within the field of music
specifically, certain names have undeniable
associations with specific artists. i'm not talking
about football teams and soul singers, or band's based
in ohio and rivers flowing through europe, or people
going about their business with the same first and
last names. i'm talking about musicians. generically,
if someone says, hey, have you heard this monk album,
i'm sorry, very few people are going to think of rich
hordinski, they'll think of Thelonius Monk, an
important composer, a pioneer in the world of jazz who
put up with a lot of white bullshit back in the day.
it just makes no sense to me that a white guitarist
who on some level is a serious musician would take
that name for his own thing.
the point about the name having connotations before
Thelonius poured his soul out musically isn't relevant
at all to this discussion.
>>
Yeah. I think it is.
So this whole thing is racial, is what you're saying? If Thelonious had been white, or Ric (Ric, not Rich, though it sounds that way) black, this wouldn't mean a thing? I don't think I like those connotations, either. Also, if someone said to me, "Hey, have you heard this new Monk album," since I'm only aware enough of Thelonious to know that he passed on some time ago, I'd have to assume they meant Ric's band. I also think I'm smart enough to know from context. I know full well I don't speak for everyone, but as far as anyone I know who knows Monk (which is, let's face it, a comparatively select few), they're more likely to know people in his genre of music than to instantly leap to the conclusion you meant a jazz musician.
Ric's band is on a level where if you've heard anything about them, you probably know something more than just the name. You'd probably know they have little to do with jazz, and less to to with Thelonious. You're talking about music from two different areas-- a guy doing guitar-based freeform pop/rock, and a jazz pianist who's been dead for almost 20 years. I doubt seriously that anyone's going to hear "Monk has a new CD out!" and immediately leap for the phone to call the Vatican. If Ric were doing jazz, I'd have to agree that he was referencing T. But even if he were, why's that so bad? Is the name of his band "Thelonious Monk Was A Big, Fat Weenie"?
What it comes down to, I think, is that Ric chose a name for his band that, while it might have specific connotations for you, have different meanings for him. As they say, you can't please all of the people all of the time. But saying he's a young white upstart trying to cash in on the glory of an old black musician demeans the both of them. I have no problem believing that a man who wrote the song "Womb of G-d" was attracted to a word with contemplative religious trappings. I also don't think Thelonious Monk's estate has anything to sue him for, regardless.
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