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Re: Gould and Bjork
Funny, when I made my
little Bjork jorke, I was thinking that Bjork would have been right up GG's
alley as a pop star. She has all the elements that seemed to get his attention
and praise.
It's odd that GG devoted as much
attention as he did to the passing Pop Parade, and yet seemed largely chilly and
cool to jazz. Jazz has musical elements every bit as deep and profound as
classical music; jazz can be and regularly is as great and enduring a musical
achievement as Bach or Mozart or Beethoven. During the Soviet days, Russian jazz
lovers frequently risked the wrath of the KGB for their beloved smuggled jazz
records and forbidden jazz shortwave broadcasts; I don't think nearly as many
people would be willing to risk a stint in the gulag for Petula
Clark.
Pop, on the other hand, seems designed
by definition to be transient and momentary, forgettable and soon forgotten. Its
elements concentrate far more on expensive dentistry and elaborate costuming and
coiffure than on musical content -- music to be looked at, thus the volcanic
popularity of MTV.
Which isn't to say it isn't wildly
entertaining. But I think Pop is meant just to goose the heart and glands for a
few weeks, and then move on; great jazz artists are trying to move the heart as
deeply as great classical artists, and are striving for the same kind of
eternity. Coltrane and Bird deserve a ride on our extra-galactic space probes
every bit as much as Mozart, and we Terrans should be equally proud to show off
their work.
Perhaps GG sensed this, and just didn't
want to risk the intellectual and emotional investment that understanding or
playing jazz would have entailed -- an investment every bit as demanding as his
classical investment. Some in his situation, like Andre Previn, invested
enormous amounts of their attention into jazz; Previn's trio recordings
with Shelly Manne are some of the best, most entertaining and most successful
achievements in Caucasian jazz -- a rather lonely and largely undistinguished
category. Certainly classical artists have been particularly lackluster and
unsuccessful with their forays into jazz.
But bjetcha Bjork would have got GG's
attention bjigtime! No investment necessary in mastering her oeuvre! A real Plug
'n' Play Pop Diva babe! The hottest thing to ever fly out of
Reykjavik!
Elmer
>This may sound like a college essay question, but
I
>think there may be some interesting points of
>comparison between
Bjork and Gould (latitude,
>eccentricity, singularity of approach and, I
would
>argue, genius).
>
>Any opinions?
>
>J.D.
Smith