[NewMusic] Bassist Paul Rogers on improvised music

[Phillip Greenlief]

bListers,
   
  I wonder if this statement still rings with the same weight that it had in 2002. 
   
  Clearly we are a long way from the Halcyon Days, and find that the under-served musical visionaries continue to scrape the bottom of the well for whatever funding they might find. But....
   
  I was reading that Alicia Keyes (sp?) new album, which is on the Top 10 Billboard charts has only sold about 60,000 copies so far. I know that sounds like a lot, but for those kinds of projects it is a really bad turnout. Those kinds of albums (her disc came out almost two month ago) are usually "shipping gold" by this time (meaning they have sold a million and are pressing the second million - forgive the industry terminology - it came over me like a bad case of the flu).
   
  I am hoping that the download thing has de-railed BIG record sales for good. And that "the industry" will stop investing all the hundreds of thousands of dollars they usually spend on these kinds of artists, and will instead spread the wealth, so to speak. But I am hopelessly naive AND optimistic and perhaps completely foolish to believe such a thing. Nonetheless, the big record labels are really desperate these days, A&R "players" are getting fired right and left - and that all sounds good to me.
   
  PG

   
  
Michael Zelner <michaelz at zoka.com> wrote:
  From a 2002 interview:

"People have this idea that improvised music is about making funny 
sounds, breaking glass or whatever, which is pathetic. It's like 
saying 'Classical music - that's Beethoven isn't it?' or 'Jazz - 
that's Stan Getz or Kenny Ball isn't it?' Of course it isn't just one 
thing, there are millions of sounds and ideas. Unfortunately, there's 
no money in this business, so the criminals who run the live music 
scene have completely written us improvisers out of music history. In 
this country there is no decent funding from the government for 
improvised music. Most of the Arts Council's money goes to classical 
music and the upper classes who set it up want to keep the status quo 
for themselves. But it all has to change because if it doesn't, well, 
it will all go down the toilet. We need to educate people properly, 
we need to nurture originality and individuality, not applaud the 
imitative and mediocre! Things have steadily declined now to the 
point where great musicians have given up playing original music 
because there's no money or support - and what kind of society is 
that? Artists are important, they reflect their society."

Full interview:


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