On Thu, 29 Mar 2001 mattu@mindspring.com wrote:
quoted 7 lines [someone else said]:> [someone else said]:
>
> >Jazz bares almost no resemblance to hiphop... Jazz is fundamentally
> >melodic
>
> I would argue that jazz is fundamentally rhythmic. Based on that, and
> its sociological roots, it bears quite a bit of resemblance. But I
Rhythmically, African music differs in a fundamental way from western
music traditions in that it uses a combination of patterns with different
(and long) lengths and emphasis to create a complex rhythmic mesh that
repeats itself over a longer period than four measures. I would say that
jazz soloing and rapping are descended from this approach inasmuch as both
involve subtle adjustments ahead/behind the beats in a western music
"measure". This kind of replicates the rhythmic complexity of African
drumming in an unnotable way. By the way, I imagine it would probably be
difficult to rap over any rhythmic base that is intentionally
unpredictable (unless you were very gifted).
I would say that the most prominent characteristic of jazz are its
contraints on improvisation, e.g. adherence to the chorus-based structure.
Everything else is window dressing, IMO. Prior to the 60s, this structure
was based on blues or popular songs (in a manner derived from the blues)
and purely harmonic. However, Ornette Coleman's harmolodics blew the field
wide open by substituting a different element in the structure, namely
"melody." My non-musicologist ass likens this to the introduction of tone
rows in serialism.
By the way, I think the term IDM (like free jazz and punk) is less of a
description of idiomatic tendencies than a set of common attitudes towards
an established genre of music (e.g. experimentalism). I mean, what other
similarities can you draw between post-electro Black Dog and the clipped
house of Thomas Brinkmann?
-rob
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