Sunday, June 7, 1998

Well, I think Guitar Starr succeeded in getting a rise out of everybody. Which probably made him very happy. Good. I have received a lot of email about this in the last week - so here is my last word on this issue: Traditional Flamenco, like Be-Bop Jazz, Free Jazz, or serious Delta Blues, is a deep and very narrow art form. The musicians of these traditions don't usually have a large audience. Often they simply play for other musicians of the same tradition and a few aficionados. Most of the time they barely make a living with their art. They are to be APPLAUDED for there dedication. They are living history. 'Nouveau Flamenco', however, is a less deep and much wider art form, especially as far as tradition goes. It includes many influences from different fields. It depends on your view of the world, of life itself, of culture and tradition....my view is to include as much as I can, to use all of the colors available to me instead of drawing with pencil only. Why use only a pencil when I can also work with oil paint, water color, pastels, photography, computer... etc... The traditionalists fit into my world view, I enjoy their work, I listen to their music. But their thinking is so narrow that they feel threatened by me and the many other musicians that are 'messing with their tradition!' There is a direct parallel to life that can be drawn here: There are people who insist that their and ONLY their religion is the one true religion, or their and only their political party is always right....those people can be frightening in their deep and very narrow conviction, don't you think? Often they get results because of their deep conviction, and often in our history they have forced a much larger group of people to accept their demands... But - there is not only one way to slice this cake of life, but many, infinitely many, ways. And there is a place for every kind of music in this world. 12:00:00 AM    comment [];

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