Erik Gaderlund (erikg@macconnect.com)
Wed, 15 Dec 1999 14:37:30 -0800
>
>
>Steve Catanzaro wrote:
>
>> And it's got me thinkin' (just for fun, since we're all afrophiles here),
>> can I think of just 5 white boys who can rock as hard in Afroamerican styles
>> as the originators? Well, I've got to reach way back for...
>
>> 4. Lalo Schifrin... well, I don't know what his nationality is, but who can
>
>Lalo is from Mexico. (C'mon, the name "Lalo" is a giveaway, ese) and of part
>French(?) Russian(?) ancestry.
>
Argetinian as was posted earlier.
>> 3. Medeski, Martin, & Wood.
>
>The general consesnus is, yes, they're funky, but no, they're not innovators.
>
Pretty true, the last concert of theirs left much to be desired.
>
>What about the Brecker Brothers? Or some of the dudes from Tower of Power?
>Or Aretha Franklin's session musicians from back in the day (all of the
>backing
>musicans on "Respect" where white boys...believe it or not!)
>
Cal Tjader, Benny Goodman (brought in Milt because he was good, not so much
because he was black), etc.
>As for Shadow, no, I'm not taking anything away from him, and none of this is
>his fault, but do note that the recent popularity of the "DJ Celebrity" as
>dictated by the Major Labels only focuses on white DJs? A recent dance music
>convention had a DJ symposium where all of the panelists were white. The
>reporter who covered it noted the absence of any Black DJs on the panel (after
>all, they started the modern form of the DJ culture) or Asian-American DJs
>like
>Q-Bert, Mixmaster Mike, Dan the Automator etc (some of whom are regarded
>by many
>to be among the DJ elite).
>
But, as I see it Mr. Davis has tried to stay back behind the seems, notice
that its Lyrics Born who drives much of Quannum's goings on. And, obvously
the moniker 'Shadow' was not because of a big ego.
And, the media tends to talk to people that it at least has a hope of
understanding. I remember a recent article on the Mountain Brothers, an
Asian American group who had to fight the promotor/marketers at their label
over wanting them to use gongs, and, ninja stuff--they just wanted to do
hip-hop!
>Then again, there's never been a non-white contestant on the "Who Wants to
>be a
>Millionaire" show, but that's another story...(hey, what do you expect
>from the
>Aryan Broadcasting Company?)
>
Well, abc stole the idea from the UK (from a show called...guess what 'Want
to be a Millionaire') so they can't have much of a clue anyway.
>> (honorable mention; Donald Fagen, Bill Evans, and Elson, only 'cuz he met
>> Stevie Wonder.)
>
>Whoa, hold it, who you callin whitey?
>
>
>Elson
>non-white and non-black (in other words, in the eyes of the American
>mainstream,
>I don't even exist...)
>
Well, in California by y2k we'll all be minorities.
erik g
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