The Militant(logo) 
    Vol.62/No.9           March 9, 1998 
 
 
Letters  
Disagree on book review
Like many others who read Black Nationalism and the Revolution in Music many years ago, I am happy to see the beautifully revised and expanded version, John Coltrane and the Jazz Revolution of the 1960s. I also appreciate the prominence given to Sam Manuel's review of the book in the February 2 Militant.

I hope the publication of Kofsky's work (both the Coltrane book and Black Music, White Business also reviewed by Manuel) and the review will help spark interest, debate, and discussion on the range of issues Kofsky takes up, including the relationship of music and art to society and politics.

As I reread it I find myself agreeing with some of Kofsky's conclusions and not with others. One aspect of Manuel's review disturbed me, however.

I am not a fan of the method of appreciating the work of one musician by disparaging the work of another. Manuel approvingly quotes Kofsky in such a comparison between Dizzy Gillespie and Chet Baker. One can fully appreciate Gillespie's brilliance on the trumpet (and his enormous impact on the music for that matter) without concluding that Baker (or some other trumpeter - Black or white - who may not have been Dizzy's "equal") played "vapid" music. I have noticed this method is utilized more frequently by jazz critics than by the musicians themselves. It strikes me as contrary to what one might call the spirit of the music and to Dizzy's spirit of musical collaboration in particular.

Manuel poses the questions, ".[W]hose music is it? From what people and experience does the music draw its vitality?" I am not so sure these two questions are identical. That the social, economic, and political experiences of Blacks in the United States is the wellspring of jazz seems virtually inarguable to me. But what does Manuel mean when he asks whose music is it?

I believe it is true that the vast majority of the genuine innovators in the development of jazz have been Black. One testimony to the power and beauty of the music they have created is the fact that jazz has developed, it seems to me, into an increasingly universal art. Each musician - from the modest number of genuine innovators to the large number of talented practitioners - takes that gift and seeks to make the music their own. In a different way, millions of listeners (from Tokyo to Sao Paulo to Johannesburg to New York) do so as well. Recognizing this fact does not in any way negate the enormous contribution Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, Theolonious Monk, Billie Holiday, Gillespie, Coltrane - to name just a few of the seminal figures in jazz who are Black - have made to all of art and culture. It underscores it.

Geoff Mirelowitz

Seattle, Washington

Understanding socialism
Having read Teamster Bureaucracy by Farrell Dobbs I am writing to say that chapter 15, "If That is Treason." has given me a greater understanding of the concept of world socialism than any of my reading thus far. The testimony offered by James Cannon both simplifies and gives crystal clarity to the many questions posed by those new to socialist thought. As a result I stopped by the Pathfinder Bookstore in Manhattan and purchased Socialism on Trial. While Mr. Dobbs works give an excellent example of socialism at work in the early days of the unions in the historical sense, the verbatim text from the sedition trial offered by Goldman and Cannon proves a veritable "Expressway" to understanding the road to true world socialism. History has created several forks in that road and at times they can lead the student to some rather confusing dead end streets. Hopefully the knowledge gained through a thorough reading of this highly interesting book will help me in better explaining concepts among fellow workers. There are those among my co-workers who express worry at my interests. It is unfortunate that many have come to associate Marxism with the Evil Empire of Stalinism in Russia. One has to probe below the surface of history as offered in a capitalist society to discover the true roots of world socialism. Doing so will allow them to see the way in which the tree of a better society was intended to grow. A tree that if allowed to gain strength will bear the fruit that will benefit all members of society. To those who say, "I don't want to discuss Communism . period," I would say read Socialism on Trial . and than tell me which is the Evil Empire.

J.B. Payne

New York, New York

Only paper that tells truth
You are the only newspaper that tells the truth. I like your references to "Clinton" as "William" rather that "Bill," and "Diana Spencer" rather than the imperialistic "Princess."

M.H.

Hartford, Connecticut `You're on top of it'

Thanks for another excellent year of real news. Especially appreciate the coverage and analysis of events in Albania and Yugoslavia. People are alive, well, and struggling for a better world, and you're on top of it.

D.L.

Chicago, Illinois

The letters column is an open forum for all viewpoints on subjects of general interest to our readers. Please keep your letters brief. Where necessary they will be abridged. Please indicate if you prefer that your initials be used rather than your full name.  
 
 
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