[NewMusic] Bassist Paul Rogers on improvised music

[Matthew Goodheart]

On Mar 9, 2008, at 3:17 PM, weasel walter wrote:

> i'm not romanticizing mental illness at all. i want less shitty  
> music in
> the world and i believe that it may eventually come down to the two
> extremes you've cited.

Point taken, though I'm not so psyched about it, as I think it  
destroys some great artists.

> much of my favorite music seems to have come from extremists and
> borderline "sociopaths".

Some of mine too, but certainly not all of it. I can only speak for  
myself, but there came a point where I felt the highly romanticized  
and maniacal energy substituted for insight or some supposed deep  
aesthetic; once the force of the charismatic energy was transparent,  
there was less backing it up than was purported to be there.  I came  
to hear around the edges of them music that there was more illusion  
than depth. Consequently, music that did not engage itself with this  
same seductive energy became more significant and I heard it in a more  
detailed and significant way; the more startling revelation was the  
one which did not shout at you, but rather proceeded unnoticed and  
allowed you to discover it. The power of the sleeping giant.

Of course everyone's craziness plays into the music they make, but  
craziness does not equal depth, and disturbance does make one more or  
less of an artist. Unfortunately, we live in an adolescent nature of  
our culture romanticizes it and promulgates itself on such simplistic  
equations.

But that's just my take- and its a cultural criticism, not one of your  
particular aesthetics.

> sadly, we generally do not and cannot care about
> their personal problems - we care about their musical output. i might
> love their music but i may not want to loan them money or let them  
> crash
> on my couch or whatever.
>
> ww
>
> On Sun, 9 Mar 2008 15:00:27 -0700 Matthew Goodheart
> <matthew at matthewgoodheart.com> writes:
>> Hmmm. . . the romance of mental illness dissipated for me some years
>>
>> ago. . .
>>
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Matthew Goodheart
composer ~ improviser ~ pianist
matthew at matthewgoodheart.com
http://matthewgoodheart.com
http://myspace.com/matthewgoodheart