From: "Frederic Ecenrode" <f_ecenrode-AT-hotmail.com> Subject: bebop and Nietzsche Date: Thu, 13 Dec 2001 10:49:26 -0600 Pardon my in-breaking, I am not on this list serve and thus don't know how appropriate this addition is. I'm studying theology at a mid-western university but began reading Nietzsche at the same time as I encountered Oscar Peterson, Ray Brown and Ed Thigpen, all of which occurred prior to my interest in theology. Try not to let Nietzsche's disgust with theology discredit a theology students input. If the Dionysian in BT is to be considered, remember that it is self-abnegating (see pp. 40-1 where "the dithyrambic votary of Dionysus is understood only by his peers"). The Dionysian element of BT is communal and only those who have denied their [Apollinian] "principium individuationis" understand. But, remember that the Dionysian in Nietzsche changes immensely as Nietzsche dissociates himself with Wagner. Nonetheless, what is most misunderstood about Nietzsche, even though he reacts violently against culture and its diseased communality, is that Nietzsche desired community above all, though a healthy community and not one based on the Cartesian ego--why else would he have had such an ambivalent relationship with language. Parker, Monk, Davis, and all the great soloists of the bop era are similarly misunderstood. One cannot speak authentically about black music, even the "esoteric" voices of bebop, without speaking about community. Bebop reacts against the same homogenizing tendency of all European "community" that caused Armstrong to trumpet so tragically. The difficulty arises because bebop disrupts the bodily experience of jazz and we therefore become cerebral listeners and tend towards the immanentism of metaphysics. But, here's the most telling aspect of community in bebop: the smaller groups that developed the art also reconstituted the roles (or, rather, the interplay) of all the voices in the group. Consider the relationship between just the "supporting" rhythm section players. Where previously they all "chunked" through the same rhythm of the song, now they supported at variance the rhythm and with an eye on the melodic/rhythmic movements of the soloist. The notion of group improvisation--begun as it was by Basie--takes on a new meaning in bebop. Thus, what Marsalis says about America and jazz wouldn't be that far off, at least as an ideal (impossible as it is). Parker could never have "individuated" the soloist without a European listener interpreting him as doing such. And, likewise with all bebop soloists. Simply listen to a trio and you can hear the interdependence of musical elements. I haven't considered the will to power in relation to bebop yet but the term "will" should not be consider in its Kantian implications as a self that acts freely. Nietzsche was radically opposed to such a notion. The will to power seizes its agent, is indeed the agent itself, expels its energy without restraint, much like Coltrane's playing "as prayer." Sorry for my lack of brevity. I hope this is helpful in some way. Fred Ecenrode _________________________________________________________________ Join the world^Òs largest e-mail service with MSN Hotmail. http://www.hotmail.com --- from list nietzsche-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu ---
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