for black arthur blythe
(1940)
| the abstract awoke in him, caused something to stir something interesting, something organic, something free in young black arthur’s blithe spirit; an event in consciousness -- an interaction in presence between artist & seminal tone, an aural vision of the sacred, a hierophany, received from tapscott in the sanctum of the pan-afrikan peoples arkestra, in his spirit’s womb chamber, that called out his consciousness, made it helically move, spiral up; pushed him out on popular bandstands. made him existentially play, his baroque tone, rich & husky, a passionate wail on high, a sweat-soaked pulsating vibrato trailing in its wake, weaving an exquisite tapestry of melody around occult scale patterns, stretching the blues to the edges of improvisation – too out for popular breakthough & an obvious target for the inevitable pushback of negation – the trial, terror error & experience of rejection, incredulity pushing him back & into the umbra of a dazzling winton’s shadow, into an unlikely wood shed. he laid there & he played there until possessed by the wave/shades of older styles which took his head, pierced the flat, polished surfaces of his genius. & he embraced them, those ghostly remembrances, held them close, closer than haunting; heard the whole of jazz’s historical process in their stylings, in his own homagic practiceplay. heard the progression from bleak self–alienation to self–unification & realization; heard implicit contradictions become explicit & knew suddenly that each stage of that process – the blues, ragtime, dixieland, swing, bebop, progressive, cool, free, hard bop, latin, post-bop, fusion nü-jazz – is the product of contradictions inherent or implicit in the preceding stage. understood that what comes into being is, at the same time, returning to nothing, connected only by ephemeral tendrils of crafted sound, the sound of becoming. & in the darkest part of that shadow, black arthur had his epiphany – to sublate the negation he must preserve in his playing useful portions of the past – the riffs, the runs, the licks & chops; the methods of creation & divergent personal styles – while moving beyond their limitations; breathe/blow into & out of his alto a new dialectic – & he stepped out of the shadow, played the abstract concrete; played joyfully free. |
© Joseph McNair;2010
many black artist went through the experience of finding themselves doing what they love but were always forced in the shadows. The artist have now realized that music was a thing for him now and that he could play by listening to the other kinds of music around him and making his own style.
ReplyDelete"for black arthur blythe" is a haunting telling of a young artist coming to terms with his need to be musically creative and at the same time push back the negativity that comes with wanting to be a musician.He knew that he had a lot to offer and the raw talent was obvious but he played in the shadows, afraid of further negativity and rejection. He had a life altering higher calling and came out of the shadows.The music was considered too out there for popular trends and culture but he persevered.
ReplyDeleteAs it must happen with creative individuals, there must be a time when they are stagnant and not creative and back to the shadows they go as it happened inhis case but he had an epiphany and realized that he had to aknowledge the past, regardless of how much negativity came with it, because the past had beautiful melodies that affected his music today, like jazz, post-pop, latin, etc. He eventually learned to live with the demons and came out of the shadows to play on the sweet sounds that he was born to play.
This poem is paying homage to the life and music of Arthur Blythe. He was a jazz saxophonist. The author talks about the way Blythe’s music sounded. It was a compilation of the types of jazz from Ragtime to Cool jazz. He was able to take these jazz styles and make them into something new, something that was his own. The author says that his music almost seemed to be improve. It may have seemed this way because the way he changed the melody of the music to fit better suit him. In his music he was free because his music was authentically him.
ReplyDeleteExplosion
ReplyDeleteThroughout the poem, the poet discribes everal concepts or misconceptions that tend to stop the artist to develop his talent; however, during that process, the providence provides the necessary tool he needs to produce an extraordinary work that is well appreciated. From this stage, one may deducts that egoims or discrimination may slow down a process, but it cannot totally stop some one to become what he/she should be.
The young Arthur woke up in his consciousness reviving all tones of his learned life, he tryed making a interaction between the world and himself.He also tryes to get lost in his musical world of blues and his baroque tones. His passion makes him mentally flying and check the sound of the perfect harmony.even he felt the negation of the world in his sholder, he never give up all his dreams , he will never going to wake up for the moment of suffer,but always remember what his became in the past.
ReplyDeleteMusic...something that brings out the most wonderful things inside of us. In the poem Arthur Blythe received a calling from music. It awoke something in his soul that allowed him to be free. He was forced to go out into the world and play his type of music. But yet it seemed to go unnoticed because that was not what the people were into. But it allowed him to hear some of the other styles of music...they over took him as he laid there and listened to the music that the people did enjoy. The music ranged from bop to jazz and many more. Yet he stepped out of the shadows and decided to give it a try.
ReplyDeleteArthur Blithe: a master of jazz and the art of composition, given the cold shoulder due to his lack of comformity to what was popular, the trend. He was free and followed his own style, his own improvisation. He: "heard implicit contradictions become explicit & knew suddenly that each stage of that process – the blues, ragtime, dixieland, swing, bebop, progressive, cool, free, hard bop, latin, post-bop, fusion nü-jazz – is the product of contradictions inherent or implicit in the preceding stage. "
ReplyDeleteThe growth of his immortal music style was one that came about sort of like a dialect. It arrived like a truth that was preceded by the exchange of logical arguments, this contradiction served as a determining factor in the interaction of these stages. Arthur Blithe saw that. The "Implicit" wasn't to him, it was there, clear for him; and he reflected it in his sounds, his art, his music.
This poem for black arthur blythe is about a black guy who was very talented. He experienced several rejections. He decided to play until he was heard.He understood that what comes into being is, at the same time, returning to nothing. Black arthur couldn't play like others. He has been playing for a long time then stoped. Then one day he decided to continued to play. Black was a very good artist from what stated. He was not free to play where ever he wants; to sublate the negation he must preserve in his playing useful portions of the past – the riffs, the runs, the licks & chops; He eventually continue playing until he was free to play.
ReplyDeleteThis poem on for black Arthur blythe, I believe speaks about the career of Arthur Blythe as a jazz alto saxophonist. In this poem it allows you to see the struggle to become who he is today. On a contract, that to play a certain way that pleases those who are listen. But a wise man knows that great music comes from within and comes from the soul or heart of the composer. So he went through trails and errors to play what they wanted; just to come to realization of incorporating all the music’s into what is his free spirit style. And at the end being able to step out of the darkness and play freely and from the soul.
ReplyDeleteIn the poem for black arthur blythe the author in my opinion is telling a story of perseverance. The author describes how the individual he is talking about indulged himself into music to with stand all the negative energy that surrounded him.The author also discusses all the blocks and obstacles the individual had to go through to get to their goal. The individual the author is discusses in this piece obviously had a profound love for music. The individual was also a strong minded person to be able to with stand everything occuring in his life positive and negative.
ReplyDeleteThis poem speaks about black arthur blythe and his passion for the arts. He freely expressed himself in his own manner, but he wasn't accepted. His jazz was his jazz, and though he was pushed over by others, he was who he was. He would continue to play and play. He went through alot of obstacles and wasn't appreciated, but that never stopped him from playing his music. This poem is a great inspiration. Regardless of what people think, you should be who you are and do what it is that makes you comfortable regardless of what they think.
ReplyDeleteI believe this is about a musician, he plays jazz so freely… he plays without holding back, and the music seems to come from his soul. He takes the style of many. When he plays his music no one seem to be able to hold him down. He plays with emotion and doesn’t let anyone hold him from his music. I like this poem because the man in the poem seems driven, and that a great quality to have.
ReplyDeleteFor black arthur blythe (1940)
ReplyDeleteIn this poem, the artist try to explain you black people's life. the abstract that awoke him cased something specifique in him which is organic. That thing make young black arthur to have freedom in exploring his spirit between other artist. He had the sacred vision of others like pan-afrikan peoples that made to be back with his concious. In this poem, they try to show you the value of black people eventhough other people see the negative part about them, they still keep their self-esteem up.
for black arthur blythe
ReplyDeleteArthur Blithe: a master of jazz and the art of composition, given the cold shoulder due to his lack of comformity to what was popular, the trend. He was free and followed his own style, his own improvisation. He: "heard implicit contradictions become explicit & knew suddenly that each stage of that process – the blues, ragtime, dixieland, swing, bebop, progressive, cool, free, hard bop, latin, post-bop, fusion nü-jazz – is the product of contradictions inherent or implicit in the preceding stage. "
The growth of his immortal music style was one that came about sort of like a dialect. It arrived like a truth that was preceded by the exchange of logical arguments, this contradiction served as a determining factor in the interaction of these stages. Arthur Blithe saw that. The "Implicit" wasn't to him, it was there, clear for him; and he reflected it in his sounds, his art, his music.
Music...something that moves the very best in some of us. Music was the very calling that Arthur Blythe received. It was something that awoke him in his very soul. It was his music that he loved so much but yet he was tested. Pushed out into the world so that others can hear his music. But others rejected it. Rejected it because it was something that was different. Something that they were not use to. They were use to music that ranged from bop to latin. He listened but yet his music was what he chose.
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ReplyDeletefor black arthur blythe
ReplyDeleteArthur Blithe: a master of jazz and the art of composition, given the cold shoulder due to his lack of comformity to what was popular, the trend. He was free and followed his own style, his own improvisation. He: "heard implicit contradictions become explicit & knew suddenly that each stage of that process – the blues, ragtime, dixieland, swing, bebop, progressive, cool, free, hard bop, latin, post-bop, fusion nü-jazz – is the product of contradictions inherent or implicit in the preceding stage. "
The growth of his immortal music style was one that came about sort of like a dialect. It arrived like a truth that was preceded by the exchange of logical arguments, this contradiction served as a determining factor in the interaction of these stages. Arthur Blithe saw that. The "Implicit" wasn't to him, it was there, clear for him; and he reflected it in his sounds, his art, his music.
Music...something that moves the very best in some of us. Music was the very calling that Arthur Blythe received. It was something that awoke him in his very soul. It was his music that he loved so much but yet he was tested. Pushed out into the world so that others can hear his music. But others rejected it. Rejected it because it was something that was different. Something that they were not use to. They were use to music that ranged from bop to latin. He listened but yet his music was what he chose.
ReplyDeleteArthur Blyth was a very talented jazz saxophonist. Despite of difficulties and rejection that he was faced,he intend to keep going until he is heard. He was not allowed to play where he would like to.The public apparentely did not like this kind of music.They were use tomusic that range from bop to pop. He made a lot of effort to get out from the shadow and play sweet melodie that he was conceive to play.
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