Late last night I was re-watching the debate because I only saw about 1/2 of it before I had to leave for rehearsal. It was reaching the lead-up to the Xerox line when something struck me about the moment that to me is the most important difference between the two candidates:
Barack Obama performs jazz, Hillary plays classical.
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Politics and debate, like music, are performance art forms. The approach one takes in a live performance is highly reflective of the overall approach to their art.
Barack very effectively answered the question of plagiarism quickly, then turned it into an attack on the entire approach and ended with a call to put an end to this entire attack oriented style of politics. He explained in great detail how the entire claim that he was plagiarizing was absurd and left the person asking the next question with an obvious follow-up for Hillary, which was "Senator Clinton, is it the Silly Season?" - based on his just-then introduced meme. He drew the interviewer into the conversation, making the follow up question as important as his response, and the question was appropriate to the conversation. This is jazz conversation.
Hillary's response completely ignored the entire point he had just made, replying from the script, which led to the only boos of the night. She acted like she never heard what he had said, instead sticking to the claim that he had plagiarized in his speeches. Her performance was based on the assumption that the script was in her favor, and had no room to change based on the other performer's words. This was a classical performance.
In the classical world, one plays exactly the notes on the written page, with the rare exceptions of the conductor and soloist. Nothing wrong with that - when there are 3 to 10 people playing the same instrument, each one has to be coloring within the lines. The piece has been strictly designed by the composer, so for the larger part of the orchestra there is absolutely no personal input beyond the effort involved in performing well - which I do not mean to undermine in any way. In my opinion, the ability to perform comes through determination as much as by any inherent talent. The ability to perform any music well comes through many hours of practice and performance, not by waking up with the talent one day. Classical music requires great focus, ability and knowledge, but allows very little flexibility from the performer. It is a top-down organization.
In the jazz world, each member is given a chord chart, occasionally with some traditional notation to show the melodic theme, and the group playing it at that moment creates the arrangement. There is usually some sort of band leader involved who guides the general direction of the song to various degrees, but much of the direction of the music is determined by the styles of the various players. In most modern cases the groups are much smaller than the typical classical orchestra, with one player covering each part vs. many. The core concept of jazz music is that each member of the group has input.
Hillary Clinton is a classical performer - she sticks to the written page, even when it has absolutely no relationship to what is going on around her. Her own input is minor compared to that of the authors of her arrangement. She has a very limited ability to improvise.
Barack Obama is a jazz performer - he riffs off the world around him, and expects the people he is working with to do the same. Because of this approach he is able to adapt to altered situations rapidly - he can evolve on the fly. A month ago, debate was his weakness - now, he is at least equal to his opponent. By the time of the general election he will probably have it mastered.
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For reference, for over fifteen years I have been a semi-professional musician, currently officially in three bands and there are several others that hire me occasionally. I don't make enough money by playing bass, doing live sound and recording to make a living so I work a full time job as well. Currently I work primarily with singer/songwriter types, playing and recording folk, rock, blues, jazz, cajun, reggae, country, swing and undefinable combinations of the above and beyond.
I am also a politics junkie, a thorough lurker of this site and others for many years.
In art, a common piece of advice is to express yourself - that is, to make your artwork based on your personal experiences. This diary is a blend of my favorite subjects.
I'd love to hear your thoughts...
Update for the "diarist has no clue about music" trolls...
I grew up with a piano in the house, started playing trumpet in third grade, thought myself guitar in junior high school, performed classical double-bass in high school, and picked up electric bass in college. I started playing bass professionally in 1991. I studied voice for several years with one of the best vocal coaches in the world.
I performed for eight years in a group that was a combination of rock, jazz and classical musicians. I have been in 50's rock& roll bands, country, folk, progressive rock, jam-rock, hip-hop and yes, even jazz bands.
So, I will not be responding to any more of the "you know nothing about (x) music" comments.
Peace.