[Jandek] Response to Column: Resonant Frequency #45

[Bradleybee]

--- Spencer Graham <soccerdude219 at yahoo.com> wrote:
>    
>   That's my three cents. Let the debates begin! (If they must)
>    
>   -Spence

Yeah...  Jandek breaks all the rules!!!  He breaks every rule I
know of!!!  He breaks rules I've never even heard of before!!! 
I even made up a few new rules and he broke THOSE TOO!!!  Waah! 
Waaah!

If you are improvising with another musician, and the other
musician goes off into alien territory, that does not limit you
as an accompanist.  In fact it instantly opens up an infinite
amount of other possibilities and avenues for you to explore. 
The accompanist does not have to "waste away" into silence (or
throw up their mallets in frustration, as it were) nor are they
required to hyperspace to Mars.  Your success as a Jandek
accompanist/collaborator depends on your ability to improvise
without the safety crutch of musical aesthetic.  I noticed that
Lorne Connors and Alan Licht didn't have any problem "warming
up" with Jandek.  All three were spinning and floating around in
the air in no time.  

Concerning "I'll sit alone..."  ...  the recording mix of that
song reflects... an imbalanced consiousness.  I can't even begin
to imagine the intensity and atmosphere that would have been
lost if that song were produced in a bland, by-the-book
arrangement.  I would compare it to "Will to Love" from Neil
Young's American Stars N' Bars.  If he had recorded that song
with a standard rhythm section & slide (like most of the rest of
that album) then it still would have been a decent song, but the
campfire crackle, vibraphone and whispered harmony vocal lines
give the song an eerie, unworldly aura.  

In conclusion, please do not wish to homogenize Jandek.  The
recent live shows as "Applied Jandek" are fascinating.  Allowing
audiences into the improvising/composing space is all the
compromise we want or need from Jandek...




ayche tee tee pee colon slash slash double you double you double you dot geocities dot com slash bradleybee



 
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