JAZZ IN NEW ZEALAND
Sir,-I have read every issue of she Listener since the first (and the old Radio Record before that) and cannot agree with the charges of snobbishness which have been made against it, It caters fairly well for the average reader interested in music, opera, drama, plays and the arts, and has a New Zealand flavour, in sharp distinction to so many of the magazines in circulation, with the exception of the correspondence columns. It is here that the charge of snobbishness has foundation because of the policy of refusing to publish criticisms of the NZBS whilst at the same time giving unlimited space to a few correspondents to conduct arguments or academic subjects of no general interest. For this reason I was very pleased to read the letter written by Mr. V. J. Wilson in a recent issue, which, although I do not agree with all he says, contained some pertinent thoughts relative to the Service. Mr. Wilson makes the common mistake of confusing jazz and music by modern composers. Jazz is not music. By jazz I mean the stuff of the type broadcast by "Turntable." It is discordant, even obscene, noises made by musical instruments. It has no melody, no rhythm, no expression-it has only time, noise and thump. It is not "modern" or new, being merely the. addition by Americans of other instruments to the drums used by primitive
peoples for ages. It is meaningless except to the extent that a noisy bulldozer personifies the machine age. All the talk about understanding its "meaning" is so much poppycock, It has no more meaning than the bulldozer engine which is an advertisement for the technical ability of its constructor and performer. I agree with Mr. Wilson that much of the music of the old masters is just as bad in its way. It is formless, aimless and tremendously dull. Admittedly it is, like jazz, well constructed, but so is the prison, and just as unattractive and dull. The broadcasting people cannot be brought to realise that all music which is dull is not "good" music, and that good music does not necessary have to be a dirge. This is the problem which confronts us with the family radio. So often the only alternative to the rubbish of the commercial stations is the dull "classical"? music of 2YA and 2YC, the devotees of which are just as much labouring to "understand" it as are those of jazz-and just as snobbish about it.
J. S.
LYNCH
(Wanganui).
if we refuse to publish criticisms of the NZBS, it seems odd that Mr. Lynch should be able to refer to a letter which ‘contained some pertinent thoughts relative to the Service." We do not print all criticisms; neither do we print all letters received on other subjects: there is not enough space. But we print a wide selection, and we do our best to see that specific conplaints and suggestions are passed on and answered,--Ed.)
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 35, Issue 899, 26 October 1956, Page 5
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496JAZZ IN NEW ZEALAND New Zealand Listener, Volume 35, Issue 899, 26 October 1956, Page 5
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Copyright in the work University Entrance by Janet Frame (credited as J.F., 22 March 1946, page 18), is owned by the Janet Frame Literary Trust. The National Library has been granted permission to digitise this article and make it available online as part of this digitised version of the New Zealand Listener. You can search, browse, and print this article for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from the Janet Frame Literary Trust for any other use.
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