Howard, I don't know whether to agree or disagree, it is a matter of interpretation.
> > Duke Ellington once said, "There are two kinds of music - good music and bad > > music." > > Ellington, who died in 1974, is indeed universally credited with that > remark, proving that inane comments about music predate internet discussion > groups. If the good Duke meant that certain music is good and other music is bad, then I would agree with you that the comment is inane. But if he meant, as I think more likely, that any style or form of music is good as long as it is true to its form then I'd disagree. I've not yet seen American Idol on the TV (and don't intend to) but I've seen and heard some clips. There is such a thing as bad music. I'm not a rock fan, but I can accept that it can be good music. And I've heard rap (as long as I can't understand the words) that has musical value (remembering that polyrythms are a form of music - Oh to find that Gum Boots video that played on PBS). Music has many souls, it may be in many forms. But in every form there are things that are lacking the soul of the form. And that is bad music. And I'd be pleased to be locked in a room with RT if he were playing some of the music he has posted on his site (although I might agree that I wouldn't want to be there to argue the relative values of different music). I like Mondrian, Picasso, Rembrandt, Degas, Monet and even Pollack. But some blots of color on canvas are just bad art made by someone with no sense of art or design. A clash of harmony, or color, doesn't make for bad music or art (witness the conversations on this list about a year ago about the "world's ugliest chord" as found in McFalane's Scots Lute Book in Gypsie's Lilt - I tried the chord in context on both lute and harp and found it to fit the context). OK, enough. I'll say that the Duke's statement was correct as I interpret it - and inane as you interpret it. Best, Jon To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
