Re: [Marxism] Leon Botstein

[sabocat59@xxxxxxx]

American music is so laced with Afro-American influence that outside the 
classical world (and even in it with Gershwin and such), it's hard to find much 
music without that influence (bluegrass maybe?) That's a lot of condescension. 

Actually, even bluegrass music was influenced by the African heritage.  As Bela 
Flek's promotion of his current tour with African musicians demostrates, even 
the banjo has its ancestral counterpart among African musicians.  

      By SCOTT BAUER, Associated Press Writer Scott Bauer, Associated Press 
Writer  – Mon Mar 9, 2:24 pm ET If you listen closely to Bela Fleck's new CD, 
you can hear the chickens clucking in the background while he plays along with 
a group of Nakisenyi women in an African cook hut. Fleck may have one of the 
more unique albums in the world genre with "Throw Down Your Heart: Africa 
Sessions." The Grammy-winning banjo maestro journeyed to Uganda, Tanzania, 
Gambia and Mali to visit unique locations like the cook hut and to play with 
exotic instruments like the three-string akonting, widely seen as the banjo's 
predecessor. But he got more than a CD out of his journeys: Fleck also has an 
accompanying film, "Throw Down Your Heart," which is set for limited release in 
April after playing at some festivals last year. Fleck is more than the subject 
of the film: He also became its producer and editor. "I've never edited film 
before but I realized pretty quickly nobody was going to get the music parts 
right unless I did it," Fleck said. "I couldn't afford to pay somebody what it 
would cost to get it right. It was a big job, but I took it on." The title 
comes from stories told about Africans who "threw down their hearts" when they 
realized they would never see their homeland again when taken to be slaves. The 
Africa trip came at a time when Fleck's regular touring band, the Flecktones, 
took a hiatus after 16 straight years together on the road. Fleck said he was 
struggling with his role as leader of the band and had some revelations about 
how to handle it after meeting with musician Haruna Walisimbi in Uganda. "Its 
hard to put it into words," Fleck said in a phone interview from Nashville 
where he lives. "There was a grace with the way he did it and a comfort with 
being a leader. I've never been completely comfortable with being a leader." 
Despite his discomfort with being a leader, Fleck was once again put into that 
role after he was unable to get record industry backing for his film. "The 
budget shocked them and they suddenly dropped out," Fleck said. Unwilling to 
give up, Fleck dipped into his own bank account, spending what he estimates is 
$400,000. He worked as the CD and film's producer. He, along with his brother 
Sascha Paladino, who directed the film, spent two years editing 250 hours of 
footage. Adjusting the banjo to the African music came naturally, Fleck said. 
"I thought it would because I've done a lot of playing with musicians from 
different countries," he said. "In most cases it works out very well and I 
don't know why. For me it's always come very easily." Fleck will be touring 
starting this spring off and on into 2010 with an ever-changing group of 
African musicians who appeared in the film and on the CD. He hopes the project 
leads to similar ventures in other countries like India, China and Mongolia. "I 
feel very good that this is where I want to be," he said. "I was 47 when I went 
to Africa and I was thinking I need to start doing things like this because I'm 
not going to be doing it in my 70s. Time is flying.
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T
________________________________________________
YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message.
Send list submissions to: Marxism@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Set your options at: 
http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40archives.econ.utah.edu