Hold it! Can't let it slide. If the "richest country in history" doesn't
support "culture," it's not just because of the circa 30% registered
Republicans, its because of the citizens, writ LARGE!!!
The problem, imho, is not with the supply, it's with the demand. I went to
see Andre Watts at the government subsidized, Frank Lloyd Wright designed
Gammage Auditorium at Arizona State University. Seats 2,000. Probably about
400 in attendance, and Watts is perhaps in the top 5 classical pianists out
there.
Now, why is that? Quite simple. There is NO music education to speak of in
many American schools. And who's fault is that? Just the evil Republicans?
How about the NEA, an arm of the Democratic party? Don't they have *some*
influence in the curricula?
Hell yes, they've got a stranglehold in some places, and the music curricula
in this country is really, REALLY bad, generally speaking. Kids don't want
to get involved because they don't want to be marching around like doofuses
playing flute and piccolo at football games as the reward for 8 years of
study on their instrument. Where's the modern thinking, NEA? Where is the
enlightened Democratic party when it comes to pulling the music curriculum
out of the 19th century?
And what about the myriad PTA's out there? Parents don't want to force their
kids in band if all they're going to do at the end of the year is honk out
the "Barney" theme on tuba. There's plenty of blame to go around.
By the way, try finding a *Republican* A&R rep at a major record label, like
Ricky Martin's. I'll bet dollars to donuts there wasn't one Republican
involved in the signing or promotion of Brittney Spears. Ditto ALL the top
cats at ALL the majors. David Geffen isn't a Republican by any stretch, what
the hell has he done for jazz? Give Pat Metheny a signing bonus? But now
we're supposed to boycott Ricky Martin like he was Queen performing at Sun
City because he came in contact with Republicans? Get real.
Meanwhile nice Dems like Michael Greene of NARAS take home $2 million a year
(perhaps the highest paid "not-for-profit" exec in the US) to get up after
the bullshit Grammys and cry about the Republicans gutting music programs,
and please send money so we can donate more barytones to schools so more
kids can learn "Twinkle Twinkle" and join the band and get Hostess apple
pies thrown at them in the lunch room by kids grooving to "Miss Jackson."
There's alot of bullshit name-calling that goes on in this country, but
Uncle Sam wants to know; "What have YOU, U.S. citizen, done to directly
influence the music education programs in your local schools?" Have you even
been to a local high school jazz band concert? Helped sponsor any school
music programs? Volunteered time or any energy at all?
If no, then go on dimpling your chads and have fun blaming the Republicans
for all that's wrong with American culture, if it makes you feel better.
Oh, and btw, which country has the best music education? Well, I'll bet
Japan would be close to the top, and the "corporate thing," i.e., programs
established by Yamaha, Kawai, et.al, have taught alot of Japanese kids how
music works, and alot of them owe their perfect pitch to Yamaha! So
remember, there are at least 2 sides to every issue.
----- Original Message -----
From: Leslie N. Shill <icehouse@redshift.com>
To: stephanie <nnine@yahoo.com>
Cc: acid <acid-jazz@ucsd.edu>
Sent: Monday, January 29, 2001 5:01 PM
Subject: Re: Latin House tunes
> thank you Steph for pointing out the sickeningly obvious, I am glad
someone
> had the guts to do that! One thing is for sure, the JAZZ series by Ken
Burns
> would never have seen the light of day had the current ruling party had
its
> way and I bet they go even further in their attempts to completely gut
> public broadcasting. It's amazing that the richest country in history
cannot
> support culture because the ruling cliques feel that it should be a
> corporate thing! Rocky Martin indeed!
>
> leslie/The Power of Sound
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: stephanie <nnine@yahoo.com>
> To: Blees, Eelco <E.Blees@sfbgroep.nl>; Acid Jazz list
<acid-jazz@ucsd.edu>
> Cc: <gkanai@earthlink.net>
> Sent: Monday, January 29, 2001 3:24 PM
> Subject: Re: Latin House tunes
>
>
> > > as I've been
> > > noticing a lot of lovely
> > > ladies dancing wildly on these kind of tunes in
> > > front of the DJ
> > > booth.........and I like THAT! ;-)
> >
> > Try Ricky Martin. It seems to work for Republicans.
> >
> > seethingly yours,
> > 99
> >
> > __________________________________________________
> > Do You Yahoo!?
> > Yahoo! Auctions - Buy the things you want at great prices.
> > http://auctions.yahoo.com/
> >
>
>
----- Original Message -----
From: Leslie N. Shill <icehouse@redshift.com>
To: stephanie <nnine@yahoo.com>
Cc: acid <acid-jazz@ucsd.edu>
Sent: Monday, January 29, 2001 5:01 PM
Subject: Re: Latin House tunes
> thank you Steph for pointing out the sickeningly obvious, I am glad
someone
> had the guts to do that! One thing is for sure, the JAZZ series by Ken
Burns
> would never have seen the light of day had the current ruling party had
its
> way and I bet they go even further in their attempts to completely gut
> public broadcasting. It's amazing that the richest country in history
cannot
> support culture because the ruling cliques feel that it should be a
> corporate thing! Rocky Martin indeed!
>
> leslie/The Power of Sound
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: stephanie <nnine@yahoo.com>
> To: Blees, Eelco <E.Blees@sfbgroep.nl>; Acid Jazz list
<acid-jazz@ucsd.edu>
> Cc: <gkanai@earthlink.net>
> Sent: Monday, January 29, 2001 3:24 PM
> Subject: Re: Latin House tunes
>
>
> > > as I've been
> > > noticing a lot of lovely
> > > ladies dancing wildly on these kind of tunes in
> > > front of the DJ
> > > booth.........and I like THAT! ;-)
> >
> > Try Ricky Martin. It seems to work for Republicans.
> >
> > seethingly yours,
> > 99
> >
> > __________________________________________________
> > Do You Yahoo!?
> > Yahoo! Auctions - Buy the things you want at great prices.
> > http://auctions.yahoo.com/
> >
>
>
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Tue Jan 30 2001 - 04:43:10 CET