MLK: On the Importance of Jazz

chuck in ny · Posted: Thu Feb 26, 2009 7:31 pm Post subject:

he was a great organizer and not much of an orator.
anyone else who would utter 'mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the lord' would be taken for being either a crackpot or pedantic.
the general sense of musical and artistic inspiration is that it comes from the heavens, pulling an idea out of thin air. none of us consider, feel, or say, that we pulled our ideas out of the earth.
king's thoughts about finding meaning certainly don't apply to my hero louis armstrong with his immense personal depth.
for one reason or the other the guy got away with that kind of stuff and was considered profound.
conceptually weak would be the best description.

Hack001 · Heavyweight Member Joined: 20 Jun 2004 Posts: 1685

Chuck in ny-- you are a blithering idiot.

MLK was "not much of an orator."

Right.

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markp · Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2009 5:40 am Post subject:

Jason Palmer · Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2009 8:46 am Post subject:

TrentAustin · Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2009 8:51 am Post subject:

markp · Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2009 8:54 am Post subject:

Jeff Mullis · Regular Member Joined: 11 Apr 2007 Posts: 24 Location: GA

He was, in fact, a plagiarizer. It has been proven that he plagiarized
his doctoral dissertation. And no telling what else!?

bilboinsa · Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2009 10:56 am Post subject:

Where's the dude with the popcorn emoticon???

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westview1900 · Heavyweight Member Joined: 09 Aug 2005 Posts: 1617

BeboppinFool · Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2009 12:04 pm Post subject:

One of the best books I ever read while working on my music ed degree was I Have a Dream: Writings and Speeches That Changed the World (Martin Luther King, Jr., born January 15, 1929). The man was truly great, there's no question in my mind about that.

Now, speaking of plagiarism . . . I think it was Mingus who said "If Charlie Parker was a gunslinger, there'd be a whole lot of dead copycats." As a jazz musician, my very job is to "steal" great licks so I sound like an "informed" improviser, right? And I never have to list where I stole every lick, do I? Why can't a speaker use other people's well-expressed ideas, too?

If everybody was totally original, would anybody be able to relate to anything anybody else says?

Reminds me of George Carlin with his phrases nobody has ever uttered before: "Hand me that piano." "Please saw my legs off."
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Xenoman · Heavyweight Member Joined: 19 Nov 2001 Posts: 1209

markp · Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2009 3:22 pm Post subject:

westview1900 · Heavyweight Member Joined: 09 Aug 2005 Posts: 1617

markp · Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2009 3:50 pm Post subject:

Agreed, but we don't need striped shirts for that, do we?

What if he'd said that Clifford Brown wasn't much of an artist? Should moderators rush in to close down the discussion?

We're big boys and girls here, and MLK's accomplishments will not be diminished in any way by what Chuck thinks or says.

westview1900 · Heavyweight Member Joined: 09 Aug 2005 Posts: 1617

markp · Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2009 6:36 pm Post subject:

But Chuck didn't tell an "untruth," no matter how repugnant his opinion is to you.

He told the truth: He's not impressed with MLK's speeches.

Who cares? Do we have to have universal agreement on esthetic issues?

Who gets to decide which opinion is worthy?

Chuck didn't attack anyone, living or dead, in a personal way. He didn't use profanity. And most important here on the TH, he didn't mention politics.

Dr. King did a lot of good and his accomplishments are legendary, but let's not make him into a god. Historians routinely point to the shortcomings of Washington, Jefferson and Lincoln.

An entire cottage industry has grown up around cutting our heroes down to size. They tell us:

Washington had wooden teeth that clacked when he talked, and he never cut down a cherry tree. Some say he was a general with mediocre tactical skills, but won out because of his tenacity and extreme good luck.

Lincoln had a wacked-out wife who held seances in the White House. He was a racist who had no intention of freeing the slaves, until he saw that it would weaken the South's ability to fight. But even then, he wanted them all shipped to Liberia.

And who can even think of Jefferson these days without thinking of his mistress, the slave woman, Sally Hemmings. Don't be surprised if in coming years they erect a monument of Sally to stand next to Thomas in the Jefferson Memorial.

Let the truth be known! Soon, the textbooks for our children will have all the juicy details.

Chuck didn't even mention MLK's womanizing or suggest that Reverend King was a hypocrite for cheating on his wife with his multiple mistresses.

And neither will I.

westview1900 · Heavyweight Member Joined: 09 Aug 2005 Posts: 1617

chuck in ny · Posted: Sat Feb 28, 2009 9:23 am Post subject:

MikeyMike · Heavyweight Member Joined: 06 Nov 2007 Posts: 1680