Music Corner

Discussion of Joseph Campbell's work with an emphasis on the personal creative impulse as well as the sociological role of the artist in today's global community.

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JamesN.
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Post by JamesN. »

The Montoya performance was outstanding Ron; very cool. You might want to check out Andreas Segovia. He is who I have always heard is generally referred to as " The Master ". I certainly do not consider myself an authority here but I think you will find this is the general consensus. I went through a bunch of videos and liked this one the best since it's just his guitar with no visual so you can just let the instrument transport you. It is a stunning performance of it's beauty! 8)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9eKTwPpe9Y

( Here is some background. ):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andr%C3%A9s_Segovia

http://www.classicalguitar.net/artists/segovia/


For Brazilian guitar another recommendation other than Tom Jobim or Luis Bonfa' I would suggest is Baden Powell. His was unique and a real innovator. There are many guitarists in both the Spanish and Brazilian traditions since their histories are different; but yes the European heritage is a major factor. What is fascinating to me is how they evolved by absorbing the richness of the other cultural mixes such as the indigenous native tribes and the imported African slaves thereby further enhancing their already extraordinary qualities. Powell was a great example of how one could take advantage of this. Throughout the tropics and Caribbean as well as South America; these various ethnic mixtures have provided an unbelievable resource of musical wealth from which to draw from; Cuba in particular is also another tremendous example.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baden_Powell_de_Aquino

( Here are three short examples of Powell's versatility; Brazilian Samba, Classical, and African. ):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWqsuGu2FM8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCMf_tk70to

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Od2kpFZjhAI
What do I know? - Michael de Montaigne

Andreas
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Post by Andreas »

Since you mentioned Andreas Segovia, one cannot ignore this masterpiece.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-2ZalhVKiM

:D
“To live is enough.” ― Shunryu Suzuki

JamesN.
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Post by JamesN. »

To catch a glimpse of the halls of such a historic setting as the " Alhambra " of these echoes of tradition makes one pause to consider such a gift over centuries of time. Seeing him playing by the courtyard pool was about as poetically picturesque as it gets I think. There is a story I heard on a documentary about the history of Latin music that at night the " Gypsy " Flamenco dancers and musicians would play by it's walls till dawn. Also that as Columbus was making his voyage to America when the weather got stormy a guitar player from court that he had brought along would come out and play to calm the nerves of the seamen. ( Nice one Andreas! ) 8)
What do I know? - Michael de Montaigne

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Post by Andreas »

:!:

Awesome stories. Thanks. :)
“To live is enough.” ― Shunryu Suzuki

Roncooper
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Post by Roncooper »

So many wonderful songs. It is amazing how much beauty can come from a box and six strings. Maybe I should say a magic box.

Speaking of the Alhambra. I saw a dvd of a loreena McKennitt concert recorded there. It was very nice.

Here she is singing Tennyson's "Lady of Shalott." I included a website for the poem. I have a reproduction of the Waterhouse painting hanging in my living room.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MU_Tn-Hx ... 7lTIpgku80

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lady_of_Shalott

Here is another one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxTpvA-p ... 7lTIpgku80

JamesN.
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Post by JamesN. »

Beautiful material Ron; just lovely. I've often been envious of countries that have such a large amount of much older cultural historical resources to draw from; ( here in the US we're kind of limited in that area ). The percussionists in particular had a very cool, unique, and fascinating array of instruments including: the Indian Tabla drum, a west African or Cuban Bata drum, and a " Hurdy gurdy "; which came from:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurdy_gurdy


From your Wikipedia link I found this extremely interesting and something I can definitely relate with; ( Ha ).
According to scholar Anne Zanzucchi, "n a more general sense, it is fair to say that the pre-Raphaelite fascination with Arthuriana is traceable to Tennyson's work".[2] Tennyson's biographer Leonée Ormonde finds the Arthurian material is "Introduced as a valid setting for the study of the artist and the dangers of personal isolation".

Modern critics[citation needed] consider The Lady of Shalott to be representative of the dilemma that faces artists, writers, and musicians: to create work about and celebrate the world, or to enjoy the world by simply living in it.


8)
What do I know? - Michael de Montaigne

Roncooper
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Post by Roncooper »

James,

Thanks for the link. I was wondering what the instrument with the crank was. McKennitt is from Canada. I have a CD called "The visit" which I like very much.

Here is a rock song with Spanish influence.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKmkOIlHbok

The Doors were different in that they only had one guitar.

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Post by JamesN. »

Ron; if you're curious I'm going to suggest a quick " read " off this link and then you should wait to play it untill afterwards. ( This will help to muddy up an already confusing subject; Ha. ) Seriously though it should give some really helpful background. Just hit the pause on the music section; and then click on the " Show more " highlight button to enlarge the text section; read the material then go back and play it when you've finished reading if you're still interested. ( The reason for this order being is that the window to the text will completely fold up after the short piece and you will have to reload the selection to finish reading it. A minor frustration but worth the extra effort. )

( Andalusia ); mentioned in the " The Doors " song you posted is a central focal point in the development of the form. The Moorish element is part of the interesting twist. This read should help make a difference in how you understand everything. Just remember there are a lot of style variations; but it is a most remarkable art form.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZ1U-RUslmI

:)

Addendum: On further investigation I found a much more in-depth; ( but very long piece ) about it's history. This music and art form presents a powerful mirror of the story of human culture to endure and thrive. And when performed is a powerful and emotive transcendent expression of the individual human spirit's timeless " dance with life ".

http://www.timenet.org/detail.html


( I should also mention that much of my preoccupation with some of these particular music cultural forms stems from the fact that I was so immersed and affected by their influences throughout my musical life so that their beauty's seductive allure for me always seems to surface whenever the subject arises. So I certainly don't expect everyone to feel the same way that I do about them and hope that I will be pardoned for my somewhat more than usual enthusiastic response to them. :wink: :roll: :lol: )
What do I know? - Michael de Montaigne

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Post by ALOberhoulser »


Roncooper
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Post by Roncooper »

Al,

Nice stuff.

Happy Birthday Woody!

Here is a song from Iris Dement, Woody might like.

We see her whenever she comes to town.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ak6E6IL4PT4

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Post by Roncooper »

James,

The movie is a Flamenco version of Carmen I saw on Netflix.

"Carlos Saura's Flamenco Trilogy: Carmen"

It has good dancing, but I wouldn't let the kids watch it.

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Post by JamesN. »

Ron; thanks for your response on this for it may seem to be somewhat nebulous in it's relevance to the point I'm trying to establish here; so let me see if I can clarify this a little bit better.

If one sees this influence historically as a kind of cultural " pollen " so to speak; that was spread and germinated along with some of the other indigenous native along with the slave populations brought to the new world; then it will be easier to extract and identify a term such as " Latin " music today. Spain, Mexico, and other Spanish speaking populations of course all have individual and unique identities. But Brazil for instance is Portuguese and therefore springs from a different source. The same goes for much of the other colonies connected to different parts of Europe; say like " Haiti " which would be French speaking and so on. But now the question arises what would be the elements that would be a unifying or connecting factor that relates here? The answer most of the time would be 2 distinct influences. 1.) The " African " slave cultures; specifically from the West and Central part of the continent; which by some estimates was somewhere around 11 million people counting the US. And 2.) The Catholic church which was a dominate force in the colonization; for instance converts, gold, and raw materials. ( The monarchies of course are included; but not to digress back to the subject. ) The African religions played a major role in the development of the musical forms throughout the regions and now the stage is set for modern 20th century music to emerge.

The following two links should probably help to verify at least some of this; but what I'm trying to establish here is the larger problem; ( especially in the US ) of a general lack of knowledge about what they are hearing and what their preconceptions are about certain cultural forms in general. ( And believe me when I tell you that it is a real hurdle to overcome when trying talk about or describe this kind of material. And depending on how you look at it; although not being a certified teacher I had the challenge or the privilege; ( take your pick ); of doing just that for about 6 to 8 years teaching both private lessons and classes as a guest instructor for the City Parks system; the cities main drum shop; and the cities school superintendent; who was from Cuba. ) Now I say this in relation to the moment's topic because what I had to do was to reconstruct from scratch a " new " knowledge base because of these same misconceptions I have been trying to point out. Namely that if one says " Latin " music most people don't even know what that is. The problem was so distinct that in the earlier decades of the 1960's, 70's, and 80's most musicians would have their charts labeled: " Latin " when actually it would probably be a Brazilian - Bossa Nova such as " The Girl From Ipanema " or " Theme From Black Orpheus ". And if one is going to address this sort of topic in a larger global sense or world context it would be important; at least if I am talking to someone about their culture. ( To highlight this relevance even further the Hispanic community is now poised within the next decade or so to be the largest dominant population in the US. And if this sounds a little too unrealistic consider the news lately about some of the current US immigration issues. ) Again thanks for your patience here. I've been wanting to speak to this for quite awhile.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latin_American_music

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latin_jazz

( One other point that I wanted to add to emphasize with this issue is that I am also a member of NARAS and also LARAS; which are the sister organizations that are responsible for both the National and Latin Grammy Awards. And even here in Nashville; which is suppose to be a major music center; most of the general membership still has no clue about any of this. But one should realize that in a larger global community many of these people really " do " know the difference. )

OK; my rant is over. Thanks for listening! :lol:
What do I know? - Michael de Montaigne

JamesN.
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Post by JamesN. »

Hey Al. Nice to have you about more these days. I came across this piece about 1/2 way down the link and thought you might find it of interest. It was done earlier this year before we lost Pete Seeger. It commemorates Woody's contribution and some of it's relevance to today's issues. :)

http://woodyguthrie.org/news.htm
What do I know? - Michael de Montaigne

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Post by Roncooper »

Here is one from Roy Orbison's last album. I think it came out about the time he passed away.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlxAHAm6zJ4

JamesN.
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Post by JamesN. »

Beautiful song Ron; and one I was not familiar with. I think the introspective quality of the lyrics pose an interesting reflective proposition to consider. In the earlier phases of life we are exploring the actual " experience of what love is "; while later on we may be prone to think of it in terms of a larger context of " what this experience had in relationship to meaning ". ( Just something that struck me as to it's particular theme. :idea: )
What do I know? - Michael de Montaigne

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