> just came to my mind that the relation between American blues and > French baroque perhaps is not at all a coincidence. Perhaps the real > swing in the form of inegalite, "un-equalness" of notes, of performing > music, really came from the French baroque music to the "new world"? A very interesting question. Am I reading you correctly? Are you hypothesizing that the "swing" of American blues originates in the French "inegalité" ? I would suspect that it is the other way 'round. I believe the unique 12/8 swing feel of blues most likely comes from African dance rhythms. Their music and dance were the only ways they had of holding on to the culture they lost when they were ripped away from home and brought to North America as slaves. I doubt that many (if any) African slaves heard the music of aristocratic French society - certainly not enough to influence the music of an entire culture passed on via oral tradition. However, I do think it is plausible that French musicians, or dancing masters, or both, could have heard slave music in the Caribbean and incorporated elements into their music or dance upon return to France. African rhythms combined with fiddle tunes from Great Britain became American square dance music. The blues and jazz that grew out of New Orleans was profoundly influenced by immigrants who were former slaves from Haiti and Jamaica, and their descendents. I have attached a PDF article by Michael Ventura which goes into depth on this subject. I think all musicians should learn to dance. It's all about dance rhythms. One can't play a Galliard properly without knowing how to dance one. Bach's suites were all base on dance rhythms. There is great argument about how to interpret these, with one side saying he didn't intend them as dances at all and the other side saying the opposite. For a wonderful treatise on this read Anner Bylsma, "Bach the Fencing Master". http://www.bylsmafencing.com/ Thanks, Arto, for a very interesting idea. I'll look forward to thoughts from the rest of the list. Tom Tom Draughon Heartistry Music http://www.heartistry.com/artists/tom.html 714 9th Avenue West Ashland, WI 54806 715-682-9362
> As perhaps many know, France happened to have certain influence there > in the eastern Norh America in the baroque times: see Wikipedia > > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Louisiana#French_exploration_a > nd_colonization_.281528.E2.80.931756.29 > > And for ex. the name "Louisina" was given to an area of land by the > French explorer Robert Cavelier de La Salle, who named a region > "Louisiana" to honor France's King Louis XIV in 1682. And that king > happened to be be also the king of those musicians who were on the top > of "inegalitee"... ;-) > > And remember what New Orleans is (was?) to the blues and jazz. And it > is (was?) an Orleans, anyhow. > > Best, > > Arto > > > > To get on or off this list see list information at > http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html > > Tom Draughon Heartistry Music http://www.heartistry.com/artists/tom.html 714 9th Avenue West Ashland, WI 54806 715-682-9362 --
