source file: mills2.txt Date: Sun, 15 Dec 1996 11:13:51 -0800 Subject: About that pudding... From: "Jonathan M. Szanto" Just wanted to add a little addendum as the comments come in, regarding hearing the concert here in San Diego. To Neil: Neil, don't mistake my comments as simply disparaging the technical performance aspect of the players, which was, for the most part, not the problem. Just being a monster player, with "kick ass chops", doesn't guarantee a great evening. Even you must have wanted to strangle some of those guitar-weenies who sit there going "reedle-ee-reedle-ee-reedle-ee" (as a substitute for a single musical lick) for hours on end. Chops are only one facet. To Will, who remarked: >This seems harsh to Cage, who would probably have >been bored, too, if you were. I think he liked pudding >just as much as the next guy. It may have come off this way, which was not intended. Knowing how much disrespect Brian shows JC, I was only pointing out that his solo performance had all the aural hallmarks of a chance piece, where something would evolve (or not evolve) outside of any strict intentions of the composer - quite the opposite of what BM intended, one would imagine. I, like you, appreciate many different disciplines, and am thankful Cage graced us with his presance. A last thought, in general: I wouldn't want people to leave this with the impression that I don't appreciate improvisation - on the contrary. From very free-wheeling events like Sun Ra or The Art Ensemble of Chicago, to anyone who has flourished in the vernerable art form of the blues, improvisatory performs can be as transcendant as most any 'worked out' composition. They just need to have a reason for making those sounds, be it the underpinning of a 12-bar blues format (or chord changes to "Good-Bye, Pork Pie Hat") or a melding of musical thoughts between players to create an organic whole. Until a fabric, similar to a blues format, is ingrained in a non-12TET playing field, these other-intonation improvs can very easily fall into a randomized airing of intervals, with no compelling reason to have switched from 12TET in the first place. Cheers, Jon *------------------------------------------------------------------* Jonathan M. Szanto | A hobo, in cyberspace, no less . . . . . . . Corporeal Meadows | . . . . . . . . Partch awaits in the Meadows jszanto@adnc.com | http://www.adnc.com/web/jszanto/welcome.html *------------------------------------------------------------------* Received: from ns.ezh.nl [137.174.112.59] by vbv40.ezh.nl with SMTP-OpenVMS via TCP/IP; Sun, 15 Dec 1996 21:53 +0100 Received: by ns.ezh.nl; (5.65v3.2/1.3/10May95) id AA04758; Sun, 15 Dec 1996 21:56:07 +0100 Received: from eartha.mills.edu by ns (smtpxd); id XA04754 Received: from by eartha.mills.edu via SMTP (940816.SGI.8.6.9/930416.SGI) for id MAA10627; Sun, 15 Dec 1996 12:55:56 -0800 Date: Sun, 15 Dec 1996 12:55:56 -0800 Message-Id: <199612151555_MC1-D3A-15E0@compuserve.com> Errors-To: madole@ella.mills.edu Reply-To: tuning@eartha.mills.edu Originator: tuning@eartha.mills.edu Sender: tuning@eartha.mills.edu