DOCSLIB.ORG

Why Is Dave Brubeck Crying?

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Why Is Dave Brubeck Crying? CHAPTER 4 WHY IS DAVE BRUBECK CRYING? The ghost makes itself known to us through haunting and pulls us affectively into the structure of a feeling of a reality we come to experience as a recognition. Haunting recognition is a special way of knowing what has happened or is happening. —Avery Gordon, Ghostly Matters The promise of attention to feelings in the classroom as a hauntagogical strategy is intimated in Gordon’s appreciation of the potential leadership of the ghost. The last chapter ended with a nod to the hopeful possibility of attending to feelings as intimated by Nel Noddings in her article “Social Studies and Feminism.” In this chapter I explore haunting recognition in film and imaginative literature that have proven compelling to my students. Such film and literature prompts emotional responses in the classroom and can be used to point students towards the adult responsibilities of coming to know their complex personhoods and their relationships to power; together, these two responsibilities constitute personal growth. Might these recognized emotions propel students forward into a haunted site and teach them to appreciate how the global egalitarian project supports their personal growth projects? I offer three stories in this chapter—one exploring curriculum centered on use of a film clip from Ken Burns’s documentary miniseries, Jazz (2000), the second on the teaching of critical theorist Michael Apple’s famous article, “Cheap French Fries,” and the third on my study with my students of Barbara Kingsolver’s Animal Dreams (1990)—with the understanding that all three stories illustrate how affect is implicated in the translation from the personal to the political in the classroom. Summarizing the common lessons of the three stories, I propose the process of examining the emotional pulls that characterize (psychoanalytic) transference relationships. Sometimes, that examination uncovers a haunting, and sometimes, if we are lucky, the uncovery leads us to formulate a something-to-be-done. I end the chapter with the announcement that my philosophical allies and I find in social reconstructionist education our something-to-be-done, having been led to its practices by our attachments to freedom, equality, and fraternity. ON TEACHING JAZZ The first story examines use of a film clip that features beloved and recently deceased jazz pianist Dave Brubeck from the 2000 PBS (Public Broadcasting Service) production of the documentary mini-series, Jazz. The series was both widely appreciated and, in my opinion, accurately criticized for its attempts to 65 CHAPTER 4 tailor content for a middle-class demographic. While it is clear that this criticism has merit, I hope readers who were troubled by the way the series marginalized some of the complexity and richness of the contemporary jazz scene and/or failed to tap a more harshly realistic critique of race and class politics in the United States will still be able to hear my story. I chose as curriculum a five-minute sequence from Episode Seven of Jazz, “Dedicated to Chaos”; its beginning images are set during World War II. Dave Brubeck begins by talking about freedom in relation to jazz against the backdrop of the war; he identifies freedom with the United States in one very specific metaphor. Describing what jazz players experienced that spoke of freedom, Brubeck says: “They were…away from the constriction of the written music…but improvising on top of it. This is the thing I love about jazz. It’s about the United States—the way it expresses freedom.” Brubeck is concerned with freedom, but his metaphor falters when it becomes clear that his conception of freedom includes freedom from racism. The interview with Brubeck leads into the disruption of his “jazz-freedom-United States” chain of associations through his recognition that white supremacist race relations had not changed in the United States during his absence from the country. When his integrated band returns from World War II, its African American members are barred from entering the front door of a Texas restaurant. Tracking the clip sequentially, after Brubeck’s positive introduction of his “jazz-freedom-United States” chain of associations, the series narrator, Keith David, tells us that Brubeck’s dad wanted him to become a cattle handler and stay home and work the ranch in California: “But Brubeck loved jazz.” After graduation from college, Brubeck enlisted, married on a brief leave, and was shipped out to Europe in the summer of 1944, fully expecting to go into combat. When he and his fellow enlistees landed, they were immediately transported to Verdun and assured they’d be sent to the front immediately. But when a piano player was requested to enhance the live entertainment organized for the newly arrived enlistees, Brubeck volunteered. A colonel who heard him play said he should not go to the front, but instead, stay behind and form a band. The Wolfpack Band that Brubeck organized played for the soldiers through the rest of the war. Although the army was segregated, the band was not. The integrated group lived in close quarters, sharing their life stories and every minute of their waking and jazz-making lives. Their work included its share of soldiers’ risks: because they played so close to the front they were once strafed by German planes, and at the Battle of the Bulge, the band was lost behind German lines for hours. The Wolfpack Band remained integrated and together right through the end of the war. “When Dave Brubeck and the Wolfpack Band got home, nothing in America had changed,” the film’s narrator then tells us. Brubeck himself continues: “We landed in Texas and we went to the dining room to eat, and they wouldn’t serve the black guys.” One of them said he wouldn’t eat their food, and crying, turned to Brubeck: “I wonder why I went through all this?” 66 .
Load more

Recommended publications
  • THE SHARED INFLUENCES and CHARACTERISTICS of JAZZ FUSION and PROGRESSIVE ROCK by JOSEPH BLUNK B.M.E., Illinois State University, 2014
    COMMON GROUND: THE SHARED INFLUENCES AND CHARACTERISTICS OF JAZZ FUSION AND PROGRESSIVE ROCK by JOSEPH BLUNK B.M.E., Illinois State University, 2014 A thesis submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Colorado in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Master in Jazz Performance and Pedagogy Department of Music 2020 Abstract Blunk, Joseph Michael (M.M., Jazz Performance and Pedagogy) Common Ground: The Shared Influences and Characteristics of Jazz Fusion and Progressive Rock Thesis directed by Dr. John Gunther In the late 1960s through the 1970s, two new genres of music emerged: jazz fusion and progressive rock. Though typically thought of as two distinct styles, both share common influences and stylistic characteristics. This thesis examines the emergence of both genres, identifies stylistic traits and influences, and analyzes the artistic output of eight different groups: Return to Forever, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Miles Davis’s electric ensembles, Tony Williams Lifetime, Yes, King Crimson, Gentle Giant, and Soft Machine. Through qualitative listenings of each group’s musical output, comparisons between genres or groups focus on instances of one genre crossing over into the other. Though many examples of crossing over are identified, the examples used do not necessitate the creation of a new genre label, nor do they demonstrate the need for both genres to be combined into one. iii Contents Introduction………………………………………………………………………………… 1 Part One: The Emergence of Jazz………………………………………………………….. 3 Part Two: The Emergence of Progressive………………………………………………….. 10 Part Three: Musical Crossings Between Jazz Fusion and Progressive Rock…………….... 16 Part Four: Conclusion, Genre Boundaries and Commonalities……………………………. 40 Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………….
    [Show full text]
  • BIOGRAPHIES, INTERVIEWS, ITINERARIES, WRITINGS & NOTES BOX 1: BIOGRAPHY,1940S-1950S
    HOLT ATHERTON SPECIAL COLLECTIONS MS4: BRUBECK COLLECTION SERIES 1: PAPERS SUBSERIES D: BIOGRAPHIES, INTERVIEWS, ITINERARIES, WRITINGS & NOTES BOX 1: BIOGRAPHY,1940s-1950s 1D.1.1: Biography, 1942: “Iola Whitlock marries Dave Brubeck,” Pacific Weekly, 9-25-42 1.D.1.2: Biography, 1948: Ralph J. Gleason. “Long awaited Garner in San Francisco…Local boys draw comment” [Octet at Paradise in Oakland], Down Beat (12-1-48), pg. 6 1.D.1.3: Biography, 1949 a- “NBC Conservatory of Jazz,” San Francisco, Apr 5, 1949 [radio program script for appearance by the Octet; portion of this may be heard on Fantasy recording “The Dave Brubeck Octet”; incl. short biographies of all personnel] b- Lifelong Learning, Vol. 19:6 (Aug 8, 1949) c- [Bulletin of University of California Extension for 1949-50, the year DB taught “Survey of Jazz”] d- “Jazz Concert Set” 11-4-49 e- Ralph J. Gleason. “Finds little of interest in lst Annual Jazz Festival [San Francisco],” Down Beat (12-16-49) [mention of DB Trio at Burma Lounge, Oakland; plans to play Ciro’s, SF at beginning of 1950], pg. 5 f- “…Brubeck given musical honors” Oakland Tribune, December 16, 1949 g- DB “Biographical Sketch,” ca Dec 1949 h- “Pine Tree Club Party at Home of Mrs. A. Ellis,” <n.s.> n.d. [1940s] i- “Two Matrons are Hostesses to Pine Tree Club,” <n.s.> n.d. [1940s] (on same page as above) 1.D.1.4: Biography, 1950: “Dave Brubeck,” Down Beat, 1-27-50 a- Ralph J. Gleason. “Swingin the Golden Gate: Bay Area Fog,” Down Beat 2- 10-50 [DB doing radio show on ABC] 1.D.1.5: BIOGRAPHY, 1951: “Small band of the year,” Jazz 1951---Metronome Yearbook, n.d.
    [Show full text]
  • Jazz and the Cultural Transformation of America in the 1920S
    Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 2003 Jazz and the cultural transformation of America in the 1920s Courtney Patterson Carney Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations Part of the History Commons Recommended Citation Carney, Courtney Patterson, "Jazz and the cultural transformation of America in the 1920s" (2003). LSU Doctoral Dissertations. 176. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations/176 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized graduate school editor of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please [email protected]. JAZZ AND THE CULTURAL TRANSFORMATION OF AMERICA IN THE 1920S A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Department of History by Courtney Patterson Carney B.A., Baylor University, 1996 M.A., Louisiana State University, 1998 December 2003 For Big ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The real truth about it is no one gets it right The real truth about it is we’re all supposed to try1 Over the course of the last few years I have been in contact with a long list of people, many of whom have had some impact on this dissertation. At the University of Chicago, Deborah Gillaspie and Ray Gadke helped immensely by guiding me through the Chicago Jazz Archive.
    [Show full text]
  • Review Essay Ken Burns and Lynn Novick's the Vietnam
    Review Essay Ken Burns and Lynn Novick’s The Vietnam War MARK PHILIP BRADLEY True confessions: I did not go into the eighteen hours of Ken Burns and Lynn Novick’s The Vietnam War with a totally open mind.1 Burns’s 1990 documentary series The Civil War, which made his career, had evoked a storm of controversy, with such leading his- torians as Leon Litwack and Eric Foner offering scathing critiques of how the film depicted African Americans as passive victims and entirely ignored the ways in which the postwar era of Reconstruction became an exercise in white supremacy. As Foner wrote, “Faced with a choice between historical illumination or nostalgia, Burns consis- tently opts for nostalgia.”2 Subsequent documentaries on jazz and World War II always struck me, and in fact many critics, as deliberately skirting potentially subversive counter-narratives in a kind of burnishing of the past.3 And to be quite honest, all of them seemed too long. In the case of Burns and Novick’s earlier series The War (2007) and its fifteen-hour embrace of the greatest generation narrative, Burns’s insular docu- mentary painted World War II as an entirely American affair, with non-white and non- American voices largely to the side. The much-heralded “Ken Burns effect” had never worked its magic on me. When I began to hear the tagline for The Vietnam War in the drumbeat of publicity before it was first aired on PBS last September (you will have to conjure up the melan- choly Peter Coyote voiceover as you read)—“It was begun in good faith by decent peo- ple out of fateful misunderstandings, American overconfidence, and Cold War mis- calculations”—I anticipated a painful eighteen hours.
    [Show full text]
  • The Legacy of American Photojournalism in Ken Burns's
    Interfaces Image Texte Language 41 | 2019 Images / Memories The Legacy of American Photojournalism in Ken Burns’s Vietnam War Documentary Series Camille Rouquet Electronic version URL: http://journals.openedition.org/interfaces/647 DOI: 10.4000/interfaces.647 ISSN: 2647-6754 Publisher: Université de Bourgogne, Université de Paris, College of the Holy Cross Printed version Date of publication: 21 June 2019 Number of pages: 65-83 ISSN: 1164-6225 Electronic reference Camille Rouquet, “The Legacy of American Photojournalism in Ken Burns’s Vietnam War Documentary Series”, Interfaces [Online], 41 | 2019, Online since 21 June 2019, connection on 07 January 2021. URL: http://journals.openedition.org/interfaces/647 ; DOI: https://doi.org/10.4000/interfaces.647 Les contenus de la revue Interfaces sont mis à disposition selon les termes de la Licence Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International. THE LEGACY OF AMERICAN PHOTOJOURNALISM IN KEN BURNS’S VIETNAM WAR DOCUMENTARY SERIES Camille Rouquet LARCA/Paris Sciences et Lettres In his review of The Vietnam War, the 18-hour-long documentary series directed by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick released in September 2017, New York Times television critic James Poniewozik wrote: “The Vietnam War” is not Mr. Burns’s most innovative film. Since the war was waged in the TV era, the filmmakers rely less exclusively on the trademark “Ken Burns effect” pans over still images. Since Vietnam was the “living-room war,” played out on the nightly news, this documentary doesn’t show us the fighting with new eyes, the way “The War” did with its unearthed archival World War II footage.
    [Show full text]
  • INTRODUCTION: BLUE NOTES TOWARD a NEW JAZZ DISCOURSE I. Authority and Authenticity in Jazz Historiography Most Books and Article
    INTRODUCTION: BLUE NOTES TOWARD A NEW JAZZ DISCOURSE MARK OSTEEN, LOYOLA COLLEGE I. Authority and Authenticity in Jazz Historiography Most books and articles with "jazz" in the title are not simply about music. Instead, their authors generally use jazz music to investigate or promulgate ideas about politics or race (e.g., that jazz exemplifies democratic or American values,* or that jazz epitomizes the history of twentieth-century African Americans); to illustrate a philosophy of art (either a Modernist one or a Romantic one); or to celebrate the music as an expression of broader human traits such as conversa- tion, flexibility, and hybridity (here "improvisation" is generally the touchstone). These explorations of the broader cultural meanings of jazz constitute what is being touted as the New Jazz Studies. This proliferation of the meanings of "jazz" is not a bad thing, and in any case it is probably inevitable, for jazz has been employed as an emblem of every- thing but mere music almost since its inception. As Lawrence Levine demon- strates, in its formative years jazz—with its vitality, its sexual charge, its use of new technologies of reproduction, its sheer noisiness—was for many Americans a symbol of modernity itself (433). It was scandalous, lowdown, classless, obscene, but it was also joyous, irrepressible, and unpretentious. The music was a battlefield on which the forces seeking to preserve European high culture met the upstarts of popular culture who celebrated innovation, speed, and novelty. It 'Crouch writes: "the demands on and respect for the individual in the jazz band put democracy into aesthetic action" (161).
    [Show full text]
  • JUBILEE EDITION to His Artistic Choice
    WINTE R&WINTER JthUe fBirsIt L30EyE earsE1D98I5 T–I2O01N 5 SOUND JOURNEYS 30 Years of Music Recordings by Stefan Winter It is a kind of stage anniversary behind the scenes: 30 years ago Stefan Winter founds the JMT (Jazz Music Today) label and records the debut production of the young saxo - STEFAN WINTER AND MARIKO TAKAHASHI phonist Steve Coleman . The starting point is the new Afro-American conception M-Base . The protagonists of this movement are Cassandra Wilson (vocals), Geri Allen (piano), Robin Eubanks (trombone), Greg Osby and Gary Thomas (sax ophones). In antithesis to this artistic movement Winter do cu ments the development of the young jazz avant- garde and produces path-breaking recordings with Tim Berne (saxophone), Hank Roberts (cello), Django Bates (piano), Joey Baron (drums), Marc Ducret (guitar) and the ensemble Miniature . After 1995 his working method changes fundamentally from a documentarist to a sound director. This is the actual beginning of WINTER&WINTER. Together with Mariko Takahashi he dares to implement a new label concept. At the end of the 80s, Stefan Winter and Mariko Takahashi meet in Japan. Under the direction of Mariko Takahashi the festival »Taboo-Lu« is initiated in Ginza in Tokyo (Japan), a notable presentation with live concerts, an art exhibition and recordings. With »Taboo-Lu« the idea of and for WINTER&WINTER is quasi anticipated: Border crossing becomes a programme. Art and music cooperate together, contemporary meets tradition, composition improvisation. Mariko Takahashi and Stefan Winter want to open the way with unconventional recordings and works for fantastic and new experiences. Stefan Winter has the vision to produce classical masterpieces in radical new interpretations.
    [Show full text]
  • Jazz Studies* 1
    Jazz Studies* 1 complicated terrains of the New Orleans of Bunk Johnson, for example, or JAZZ STUDIES* the Baltimore of Billie Holiday (born in Philadelphia, reared in Baltimore). They explore such artists’ other geographical travels. What did their *Jazz Studies is offered exclusively as a concentration. images, including mistaken conceptions of who they were, tell us about the cultures that mythologized them? The Center for Jazz Studies: Prentis Hall, 4th floor (632 W. 125th Street); 212-851-9270 How did these jazz musicians influence not only musicians but other http://www.columbia.edu/cu/cjs artists of their era and milieu: the poets and novelists, painters and sculptors, photographers and filmmakers, dancers and choreographers Jazz at Columbia: who regularly heard them play and often shared with them a sense of https://mpp.music.columbia.edu/louis-armstrong-jazz-performance- common project? program One thinks of Tito Puente, working with singers and dancers at the Director: Prof. Robert G. O'Meally, 611 Philosophy; 212-851-9270; Palladium; Jackson Pollack dancing to the music as he spun drips of [email protected] paints on canvasses placed on the studio floor; Langston Hughes writing detailed instructions to the musicians he hoped would accompany Director of Jazz Performance: Prof. Christopher Washburne, 619A Dodge; performance of his poetry; Romare Bearden’s beautifully turned stage 212-854-9862; [email protected] and costume designs for Alvin Ailey and Dianne McIntyre, whose improvisatory jazz dance workshop was called Sound in
    [Show full text]
  • Jazz and Radio in the United States: Mediation, Genre, and Patronage
    Jazz and Radio in the United States: Mediation, Genre, and Patronage Aaron Joseph Johnson Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 2014 © 2014 Aaron Joseph Johnson All rights reserved ABSTRACT Jazz and Radio in the United States: Mediation, Genre, and Patronage Aaron Joseph Johnson This dissertation is a study of jazz on American radio. The dissertation's meta-subjects are mediation, classification, and patronage in the presentation of music via distribution channels capable of reaching widespread audiences. The dissertation also addresses questions of race in the representation of jazz on radio. A central claim of the dissertation is that a given direction in jazz radio programming reflects the ideological, aesthetic, and political imperatives of a given broadcasting entity. I further argue that this ideological deployment of jazz can appear as conservative or progressive programming philosophies, and that these tendencies reflect discursive struggles over the identity of jazz. The first chapter, "Jazz on Noncommercial Radio," describes in some detail the current (circa 2013) taxonomy of American jazz radio. The remaining chapters are case studies of different aspects of jazz radio in the United States. Chapter 2, "Jazz is on the Left End of the Dial," presents considerable detail to the way the music is positioned on specific noncommercial stations. Chapter 3, "Duke Ellington and Radio," uses Ellington's multifaceted radio career (1925-1953) as radio bandleader, radio celebrity, and celebrity DJ to examine the medium's shifting relationship with jazz and black American creative ambition.
    [Show full text]
  • Eli Yamin Celebrates the Dave Brubeck Quartet Curriculum Guide
    Eli Yamin Celebrates the Dave Brubeck Quartet Curriculum Guide Eli Yamin Celebrates the Dave Brubeck Quartet Overview These six videos are presented and performed by jazz and blues pianist, composer, singer, producer and educator Eli Yamin. The videos vary in length from 3 to 12 minutes. The title of the series aptly denotes the content because Eli Yamin and his group of master musicians truly do “celebrate” 5 songs of Dave Brubeck. Each video examines and performs a specific song and its unique qualities. Although the focus is always the music, the lessons easily apply to literacy and language arts standards, grades 6-12. The amount of time spent on the lessons can be decided by the teachers, depending on students’ interest, needs, and planning. Below is a brief summary of the content of each video to help teachers decide which best suits their curriculum. It is recommended that all the videos be studied in order to provide a full scope of Brubeck’s music, but the lessons and videos can each stand alone. Dave Brubeck Brief Background Dave Brubeck was a famous jazz pianist, composer, and bandleader who lived from 1920 to 2012. He founded the Dave Brubeck Quartet in 1951 after playing for several years in his group called the Dave Brubeck Octet. His group became very popular in the 1950s, most notably for his combination of great melodies, strong sense of swing, and unusual meters and rhythms from around the globe. Some of his more popular songs are "Blue Rondo a la Turk," "In Your Own Sweet Way" and "The Duke." He collaborated with quartet member Paul Desmond on numerous compositions; Desmond’s “Take Five” became the first jazz instrumental to sell more than one million copies.
    [Show full text]
  • Operation Overlord James Clinton Emmert Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College
    Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Master's Theses Graduate School 2002 Operation overlord James Clinton Emmert Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_theses Part of the Arts and Humanities Commons Recommended Citation Emmert, James Clinton, "Operation overlord" (2002). LSU Master's Theses. 619. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_theses/619 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Master's Theses by an authorized graduate school editor of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. OPERATION OVERLORD A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Liberal Arts in The Interdepartmental Program in Liberal Arts by James Clinton Emmert B.A., Louisiana State University, 1996 May 2002 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This thesis could not have been completed without the support of numerous persons. First, I would never have been able to finish if I had not had the help and support of my wife, Esther, who not only encouraged me and proofed my work, but also took care of our newborn twins alone while I wrote. In addition, I would like to thank Dr. Stanley Hilton, who spent time helping me refine my thoughts about the invasion and whose editing skills helped give life to this paper. Finally, I would like to thank the faculty of Louisiana State University for their guidance and the knowledge that they shared with me.
    [Show full text]
  • Hometown Teams: How Sports Shape America Children's Reading List
    Hometown Teams: How Sports Shape America Children’s Reading List Children's Fiction Bagnold, Edith. National Velvet. Originally published in 1935. Buccaneer. 1981. 306 pages. National Velvet is the story of a 14‐year‐old girl named Velvet Brown, who rides her horse to victory in the Grand National Steeplechase. The classic novel focuses on the ability of ordinary persons, particularly women, to accomplish great things. Velvet and her horse become instant celebrities, with Velvet and her family nearly drowning in notoriety. Velvet strongly objects to the publicity, saying the horse is a creature of glory who shouldn't be cheapened in tabloid trash and newsreels. She insists that she did not win the race, the horse did. The book inspires the film by the same name (starring Elizabeth Taylor), a TV series and TV movie version and a lesser known sequel, International Velvet. Christopher, Matt. The Great Quarterback Switch (Matt Christopher Sports Classics). Little Brown Books. 1991. 97 pages. Can Michael and Tom read each other's minds? Michael and Tom Curtis are identical twins who share a love of football. Unfortunately, because of a tragic accident, Michael must watch from the sidelines as his brother calls the plays on the football field. During one game Michael concentrates very hard on a play he thinks could help the team, and Tom calls the exact play a split second later! Is it coincidence, or can the boys communicate through ESP? The boys try a daring experiment in which they push their telepathic powers to the limit ... and suddenly, impossibly, Michael is running the ball for a spectacular touchdown! Matt Christopher has a number of sports‐related books to his credit.
    [Show full text]