Fascinating history here, Christopher, but I must say I am confused
(as who isnt, but) by your admonitions against whatever it is you
think 'postmodernism' is. That is I'm confused as to what you think
pomo is.
Nor does ab ex Have to be the horror you seem to think. At least it
isnt to me....
But then, I am something of a formalist I guess.....
I would think, though, that those jazz masters you pay homage to at
the end knew all too well the formal aspects of their art, even if
some of their playing strained against or broke the supposed formal
rules....
Doug
On 3-Nov-08, at 3:16 AM, Christopher C Jones wrote:
> Caleb, thanks and yes, I gave my collection of Laughing Clowns LPs
> to my
> youngest brother who passed them on to some young musos who nearly
> fell
> over backwards when they saw them, so I was told.
>
> Since it is no secret to be ashamed of; Louise, Tony Hobbs and myself
> shared a house when Tony and Louise were lovers and students in the
> jazz
> course at the Con and myself a student at an avant-garde art college
> in
> Balmain. We also shared an interest in avant-garde music, including
> jazz. I remember around this time that Tony made a recording with Jon
> Rose, who was then considered an avant-garde improvisational
> violinist.
> (I find myself wanting to hear some of these recordings as well.) I
> can
> also remember giving Louise some money left over from buying my first
> Nikon and other photographic gear so she could get a nice flute. These
> were days prior to the Laughing Clowns, BTW. Other peek moments I can
> remember are the Art Ensemble of Chicago playing live in Chippendale.
>
> Since these first days (half moon hallucinogenic daze) and years as a
> young art student when it still appeared possible that one can be an
> avant-garde artist, Postmodernism spread a dark and suffocating shadow
> of pure formalism and I found myself kicked out of art school for
> avant-garde activities outside of the limited choice of abstract
> expressionism or conceptual art, both of which demanded only a
> reactionary adherence to formal methods and to which my activities
> exceeded the limits imposed. I should have known better then to wear a
> badge proclaiming homosexual solidarity around a red butterfly I got
> when a member of Sydney University Gay Liberation where previously I
> was
> a student in electrical engineering and physics. An avant-garde art
> college just was not ready for this. However, when one is still young,
> you learn these things the hard way.
>
> It now appears that this dark suffocating lack of air called
> Postmodernism is fading quickly to not even a footnote in art history
> and us avant-garde students, previously censored by the laws of what
> postmodern art considered appropriate behaviour, can come out from the
> deep and hidden underground which nurtured our previous existence
> and so
> hence my interest in Louise's latest recordings and compositions which
> still in the review articles pass disguised as a cross musical genre
> montage, the last vestiges of post-modernist magazine review article
> hype yet to be fully destroyed beyond the last postmodern man standing
> in the name of avant-garde creation. Long live Archie Shepp. 'trane
> africa brass
>
> Also, I would be very interested to hear of any recorded performances
> available on CD of the New Zealand composer, Noel Sanders.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On Mon, 2008-11-03 at 18:45 +1100, Caleb Cluff wrote:
>> She was a member of the seminal band Laughing Clowns with Ed Kuepper.
>
Douglas Barbour
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