Jazz: It's an amurrican thing

[Justin Schwartz]

Jazz is an American gift to the world. Bossa nova, among other world musics 
that jazz musicians took up and abborbed, became part of jazz, but it wasn't 
jazz until the likes of Stan Getz got hold of it. Jazz was traken up by the 
European quite early--one thinks of Django Rheinhart and the Hot Club of 
France in the 1930s; and of course of lot jazz musicians emigrated for a 
greater or or lesser time, fertiliszing jazz in France, England Scandanavia, 
and elsewhere. One of my favorite odd jazz groups is the Istalian Istabile 
Orchestra. European jazz is a theme of The Talented Mr. Ripley, btw. I have 
a fun book by Frederick Starr, Red and Hot, about Soviet Jazz, which I have 
heard a bit of--the music, that is; there is talent there. All taht said, 
jazz is a native AMerican expression. That doesn';t mean it stays here. Like 
most American culture, it is now everywhere. --jks


>
>While I've enjoyed watching the fireworks on a topic where what I know can 
>charitably be described as "fuck-all", I can't help noticing a silent 
>consensus on one of Ken Burns's chief conceits in the series: that jazz is 
>essentially a U.S. thing.  All of which makes me wonder, so what's bossa 
>nova, chopped liver?  But if we let Tom Jobim (among others) into the tent, 
>then we can identify at least one place on earth where jazz is not 
>following classical into the museum.
>
>That aside, perhaps we're all trying a little TOO hard to accumulate 
>cultural capital (always, necessarily, by devaluing others').  Somewhere, 
>Pierre Bourdieu is laughing at us.
>
>Cheers,
>Mike

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