TOP TEN FROM THE FREE JAZZ UNDERGROUND – by Thurston Moore

[jeremiah]

Though some of you might enjoy this –

<BLOCKQUOTE><font>quote:</font><HR>
No matter how you listen to it JAZZ is ostensibly about FREEDOM.

FREEDOM and the MYSTERY surrounding it.

And, like MUSIC, it is an ABSTRACT.

It’s SHAPES, FORMS (SOUNDS!) are DISTINCT and PERSONAL and SENSITIVE to each player’s DESIRE.

And the DESIRE is INFINITE.

FREEDOM is not just another word for nothing left to lose.

We know this from MESSAGES beamed from the space-lantern of his cosmic highness SUN RA!
The MESSAGE was clear:

"NOTHING IS."
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Full Article – http://www.evol.org/free.jazz.html

[eggwater]

That was originally in Grand Royal (issue no. 2) – the Beastie Boys Magazine – Issue one and two were awesome…hilarious.

[SG]

Thanks for that article,Jeremiah.
I was listening to jazz for a short time in 1989 no one on the radio shows I was listening to was playing free jazz,I did`nt know what the books were talking about,until I tuned into the local college station on boxing day 89 when someone was playing Coltrane`s"Ascension",it blew me away,all the talk of friends telling me that jazz is elevator music or cheesy department store music and that it`s stupid music was blown away;listen to this man!you think jazz can`t be punk?
My friends were not into punk but they thought rock music is superior over jazz.
My theory is that these guys were the original inventors of punk;the fire,energy,and noise of free jazz is just as punk as the Pistols.
When I first heard Sonic Youth,it was "Silver Rocket";that feedback in the middle reminded me of free jazz,except they were using guitars instead of saxophones.

Thurston has great taste,we need rock musicians like Thurston,Iggy,and Rollins to tell people that jazz is`nt what you think it is,it can be as energetic as rock music just as much as it can be mellow.

[SG]

I forgot to mention there`s this great book about free jazz I read once called "As serious as your life" by Valerie Wilmer.Check it out if you see it around.

[Author]

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