I was brainstorming the other day, or rather, just daydreaming, and something occurred to me about the state of art and music. Whenever you hear reference to older generations of music, they're mentioned as if music has moved forward so far since their inception all those years ago. Today's R&B, Rock, Pop, and Hip Hop, pretty much look down on the eras of the 1940's and 50's. To be truthful, a lot of that is flawed and defensive posturing.
Much of today's portrayals will glamorize and exaggerate today's music, amplifying it above the norm, in comparison to yesterday's music, to make it stand out as superior. But aside from the black and white caricatures that you see painted, if you were to take music venue scenes from the 40's and play them side by side with today's music scene, you would see quite a different picture. I have had a blast going through old film of Muhammad Ali interviews in his prime on talk shows like Sammy Davis Jr., and Nikki Giovanni. What it reminds me of is how hip they were back in the 70's and prior. There was such a bustling art movement across the country at that time, as well as very deep conscious thinking. Today's society would like you to forget that. They act as if in those days, people were rigid and today's people are very intellectual and advanced. That couldn't be more wrong. People have never been more rigid than they are today. There has never been such a lack of thought, let alone original thought.
If you take open rhythm in music and free-thinking, scientific conversation that was the norm back when Miles Davis played, or when Jimi Hendrix was rocking, people today would be so out of their element and lost, it would be comical. Rather than admit that it's all been simplified and dumbed down, they'll just say that up is down and down is up, and move on, as if that cures it all.
I was having an artist moment the other day- the only way I can describe it to you laymen, and a rhythm came into my head. It was a hard-bop kind of rhythm. I kept hearing it, even in the shower. As it filled my head, I began to lay a bass line, and eventually a melody that I forgot over it. It was so hip it isn't funny. Before I knew it, I was bopping back and forth, and just imagining how much fun it would be to perform the tune on stage. That's when a sad thought hit me. Music is totally devoid of that today. People have no idea how empty and whack music has become. Not only are the tempos today held below 100, but also the rhythmic structures are retained to simple 4/4's and the occasionally used 3/4. That's become the simple safe zone that everyone tells themselves is Nirvana. The complex and moving rhythms and melodies of the 40's would blow today's music out of the water, if the sound quality was brought up to speed. These clowns don't know a thing about real BOP. I mean nothing about bop- period. They tell themselves that it's some archaic nonsense that their ancestors listened to. They'll swear Katy Perry and Lady Gaga are on the next level. What do these fools know about chamber music for real? Not the negative connotation that's been put on it. What do these idiots know about totally vibing off on a sick Bop-vamp, getting lost in the solo? I'm talking about the music that had you hypnotized and sweating after about 20+ minutes of a sick beat and solo!! Even today's jazz has lost that in large part. And that's due to the modern influence. When I was doing my residency of sorts as a music student around 2007-2008, that's when alot of that scene was beginning to become rare. I remember nights of sick jam sessions with some cats I used to play with. There were solos that went on for 30 minutes, with a rhythm section so energetic, you would never have known. Bop got its name from the motion it produced in the listener, and music today could never match that energy. Predominantly, it used a 2/4 beat pattern with frequent accents. This allowed you to fill out the drum pattern and make even ballad tunes sound high octane when needed.
Look at a well known song like "Take Five," by Paul Desmond. Today, it's used in segues and as background music. If that song were fleshed out and performed for real, these dudes wouldn't know what to do with it. So my idea was to do a track similar to the Bop era, and give it some modernized amplification. It should be interesting when it's done. Another thing that I want to do is a tune that has no repetition. When you think about that, it is much harder than it sounds. I was thinking about an experiment. I wanted to ask a bunch of people to grab a few items and go into a silent room. Then I wanted them to allow me to record them as they play around and make noise for as long as they can without repeating any patterns or melodic fragments. You will be surprised how just about everyone will struggle with that. I want to take that on as a challenge to myself. I've always respected Free Jazz for that. It is so much harder to have no patterns. If you noticed conversation over the last decade or more, most people repeat themselves several times in conversation. Ask yourself when the last time it is that you or someone you spoke to, had a complete conversation without going back over a point, or repeating a statement. It's amazing to think about, but a denser society has gradually, over the years, become reliant on repetition. That's why the crap music today gets over. It super repetitive, and would have been booed out of the studios and clubs decades ago. But like I said, that's back when conversation was more fluid and deep. You will find that people did not repeat themselves nearly as much several decades ago. Investigate that for yourself. Even in the Ali interviews that I watched, even when punch-drunk, he almost never went over a point again and again. His thought were clear and concise. When you see that for yourself, you'll really think about things.
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