I doubt it. I was living in St. Louis at the time, so it was at least 15 years ago, and the Web was barely getting started...
-----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of [email protected] Sent: Thursday, February 18, 2010 1:30 PM To: [email protected]; [email protected]; 'wikla'; Guy Smith Subject: [LUTE] Re: Louisiana and the "Sun King", Louis XIV > I heard an interesting radio article some years ago on NPR about early > jazz in New Orleans. Apparently, most of the band leaders at the time > were German immigrants. Many (most?) of the early jazz musicians > learned how to play from German bandmasters, which had a definite > influence on the style. > Guy That's Wild! I'd love to hear the broadcast. Do you think it might be available for streaming on NPR's site? Thanks Guy, Tom > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On > Behalf Of [email protected] Sent: Wednesday, February 17, 2010 > 5:32 PM To: [email protected]; wikla Subject: [LUTE] Re: Louisiana > and the "Sun King", Louis XIV > > > 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 > > -- > Tom Draughon Heartistry Music http://www.heartistry.com/artists/tom.html 714 9th Avenue West Ashland, WI 54806 715-682-9362
