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ebony and ivory...
hi guys :)
tina shares:
>i personally couldn't do
>it because for me, because of my background and
>appreciation of jazz, it would feel inappropriate,
and
>for me personally, would be embarrassing because i
>would feel the name wasn't mine.
well, yeah. but it's not "exactly" the same. it's
almost like, to bring it back to muhammad, not being
able to understand millions of muslims naming their
children "muhamad." there are millions. i think,
besides the issues of honor/admiration, that it's b/c
in _some_ way they identify with him. i think ric has
the right as a creative soul to identify with another
creative soul (even in the same medium) he admires by
using his name. we do it everyday in our jobs and
every title we have. as a "teacher," my title comes
from this lovely, pure concept of teaching...assuming
that people can learn from me. do i always live up to
this truest form? prolly not. :) i'm a christian.
i'm not sure how the grace covers that identification
:)...but there go i with that name/title too. these
titles denote things/people i identify myself with.
>for me, it
>complicates it somewhat further because i'm white,
and
>i feel like Thelonius and many other black jazz
>musicians put up with a lot of crap from white
people.
this is such an interesting point. i see this a lot
in academia. pushing the envelope for marginalized
groups/ideas even though they disassemble your power
or fight against you personally in the effort to tear
down walls. i don't think all the appropriate walls
are down yet, but it might not be as unlevel as we
bleeding hearts (yes, i tend to be one) would like to
think. times are a changin' and have been for a long
while. it's funny, the fact that the former monk was
black didn't occur to me as a factor at all...and i'm
pretty darn sensitive about these issues. i teach in
a low-income school with a large majority of black
students. their concerns are my concerns as their
teacher and authority/parental/guiding figure.
>when i suggested that for me, ric's music was "very
>white", i didn't mean "very caucasian", i meant, for
>me, it lacked something akin to soul. other people
>might be deeply moved by it. i'm not somehow, and
>that's ok. i think.
>can white be a musical term.
i know we just wrap words around ideas to orient
ourselves, but i too had some trouble with this. if
we're open to the idea that "white" and "black" can
point to certain styles/effects in music b/c of some
predecessors, that's fine by me. but if it doesn't
make sense for "white" music (ric's in this case) to
have been inspired by or have been truly led by
"black" music...that there isn't some bridge...than
how do "white" people claim to have this kind of soul
at all or to be able to enjoy it as you (and i) do?
b/c that "black" music came from the "black"
experience...which is an area where you and i as white
females have no authority. know what i mean?
but i'm not "dissin'" you, tina. i hope you stick
around :)
buenas noches,
j. marie
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