[dvd-discuss] Rhapsody in Blue and the death of Jazz

["D. C. Sessions" <dcs(at)lumbercartel.com>]

It's been observed that (at least according to the traditional
forms) Jazz -- _the_ American musical form -- is dead.  It died,
they tell us, of starvation. Jazz is at heart an improvisational
derivative of popular music and for the last few generations
there hasn't been any popular music available for improvisation.

What killed Jazz?  Why, for instance, aren't there any variations
on the theme of /Rhapsody/ /in/ /Blue/, the great Gershwin tune?
Why hasn't someone worked variations on /Appalacian/ /Spring/?

Well, in short because the heirs and assigns of Gershwin and
Copland won't allow it.

Amazing, isn't it, that composers today still can't build on
classic works composed before their grandparents were born?

Would someone *please* explain how this promotes science and
the useful arts?

-- 
| May I have the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, |
|  the strength to change the things I cannot accept, and the   |
|    cunning to hide the bodies of those who got in my way.     |
+------------- D. C. Sessions <dcs@lumbercartel.com> -----------+