Hi Leslie! Yeah, I love to tweak it, especially when the people on the other
end are thoughtful cats like you.
Well, I watched the penultimate episode of "Jazz" right after writing my
rant, and checked the funding. General Motors in prime position. And then, a
whole slew of foundations, mostly set up by people who made beacoups dollars
in the free enterprise system. And, I'd really like to see how the promo
budget from "Jazz" stacks up against a major label effort, from Outkast,
Macy Gray, or the like. Pretty favorably, I'd wager. There are BIG dollars
at stake here
But now we come to the heart of the matter. If my idea of a good time is to
drink Miller, chew Skoal, and rock John Anderson and Hank Williams Jr., why
should my dollars go to fund a series about jazz, which I won't watch and
don't care about? Especially when there is a ton of private funding out
there, as evidenced by the opening credits of "Jazz."
As for jazz, the music. On the 1 hand, the government could issue a copy of
"Free Jazz" to every citizen, and there still wouldn't be a mass market for
Ornette's music.
On the other hand, there's people like you, and me, who are passionate about
the music. But if you wonder why jazz is "relegated" to public broadcasting,
to late night shifts on the far left end of the dial, look no further than
the entire global entertainment complex, which is controlled almost entirely
by liberals, and commands an unholy stranglehold on supply lines and
distribution channels. Look to the education curriculum, which is heavily
influenced by the teacher's union, almost all dems.
You can't hear jazz because Geffen and his ilk aren't pushing jazz. Why?
Because they think Joe Six Pack is too dumb to appreciate jazz, especially
in light of the marketability of Brittney's boobs.
And, they're right, because even here in Arizona, which is one of the worst
funded education systems in the nation, there are gigantic, beautiful
buildings and ain't shit being taught about music inside, other than a
little tune on recorder, a little Peter and the Wolf, etc., because that's
what the music teachers at the state universities are being taught to teach.
The problem is deeper than just, "Reagan cut our money, jazz is dying." If
jazz was alive, if kids understood it and dug it, radio stations wouldn't
have needed Reagan's money. Schools let kids play flag football for an hour
a day, so 140 million people watch the superbowl. If kids learned music for
an hour a day, "Jazz" would have substantially higher ratings, I'll wager.
As for paradigm shifting. Well, I hope you're right, but do you think Geffen
and his ilk are going down without a fight? The fact is, the whole recorded
music industry is about as ethical as the Mafia, and I hope that the
internet stays as free as possible! That's what I want Bush to do, clear a
way for entrepeneurs to compete with the unethical record company /
broadcaster allliance, not to start a government channel that will program
capriciously based on what it defines as "meaningful" or "quality."
As for what we're doing, we're seeing a need and filling it. We started a
business that does after-school music education programs in schools. First
keyboards, but soon we'll offer lessons on guitar, turntables, MIDI, etc.
And let me tell you, there is 2 much government WASTE out there. One of my
friends told me that the city of Newark NJ offered him $13k to set up an 8
week music program for 9 students! Talk about overkill! If privately
funded, it would have cost the parents under 900 bucks.
Anyway, big ups to anyone who's taking it to the people, Leslie! Where we
may disagree is that I think we lost our way long before Ronald Reagan, and
I feel that the proliferation of crap music predates his presidency by some
years!
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