Vocalist.org archive


From:  bjjocelyn@p...
Date:  Wed May 22, 2002  4:18 am
Subject:  Re: [vocalist] Re: Aaron Neville

So you wrote

"Dear Bart,

Why not compare Neville to Caucasian people in his home genre (easy
listening) instead of African Americans in other genres
(Armstrong:jazz, Wonder:R&B)? The soundscape of popular American music
is more complicated and diverse than "drum pattern recycling" as you
call it. If you do not educate yourselve in the distinctions, you end
up making irrelevant comparisons based on skin color."

All right then

Do you really believe I' m daft or candid enough not to know of the
widespread labellings "easy-listening" and "R&B" ?
Do you seriously buy R&B wasn't ever meant to be "easy-listening" in the
first place, when
composed by songwriters in order to appeal to a broad audience, thus making
big bucks out of music?
Why should we finally subscribe to artificial differences imposed upon us by
the music industry?

Secondly, what is the good of bringing about this improper and
archeologically-speaking controversial dated "caucasian" term? (for further
unprejudiced, trailblazing ethnological information, try reading
enlightening "Black Athena" from Martin Bernal)
Who broached the issue of "skin colour" if not you? And so by the same token
who is trying to "make distinctions"?

Unfortunately, I happen to believe that the "soundscape of popular American
(with capital A) music" chiefly consists of....well, popular music, period.

Next, you wrote

"1) There has always been crappy music in every age and genre. The
newest stuff has a higher proportion of crap because it has not been
filtered out yet. There are some terrible Baroque operas out there,
they are simply not done anymore because they could not withstand the test
of time.

2) Some new music is great, and you can't assume you'd recognize it to
be so, anymore so than Beethoven's last quartets were appreciated in
his time"

It's all fair and square, still a wee bit besides the point, that is, the
point I was humbly trying to make. So this time try having the grace not to
misconstrue the purport of these lines I'm again delivering to you:

Aaron Neville, albeit unintentionally as far as he's personally concerned,
belongs to a category of American Pop Music the major record companies
europeans "delegates" keep on importing regardless, owing to the fact he is
a black american (all right, I said it bluntly). Little does the qualitative
content matter to them, inasmuch as it's a trendy thing to do. Now if you're
wishing to read me in the small print, you'll be relieved to find out that
my criticism neither points to the black american community nor to americans
in general. It rather underlines a contemporary western european
sociological pattern, which I suspect reveals a latent offset to exacerbated
guilt feelings towards formerly enslaved and colonized people. Is it such a
huge sacrilege to call this up? Does it prevent me from beeing a "peaceful
person"? Or is it you mistake peace for mental motionlessness? Why should
taking on historical responsabilities prevent one's scrutinizing mind eyes
to shed politically correct blindfolds in order to take a sharper look at
disturbing modernity edges?

Now for the asking, who knew better enough to feel commited to decide
certain "terrible" Baroque operas were not to stand the test of time? Was
every human beeing (shackle)free back then, able to read, write, and vote?
So if you really stand for respect towards non "caucasian" minorities, why
not first try to clear your judgement from sureptitious surrounding
prejudice?


Let us call the cease fire
And join into the peace choir
Bart














  Replies Name/Email Yahoo! ID Date  
19191 Re: Aaron Nevilletakooda   Wed  5/22/2002  
19194 Re: Aaron Nevillebjjocelyn@p...   Thu  5/23/2002  

emusic.com