For this week I choose a song that might be considered too conservative for the definition of world musics, however it is currently relevant to my students and also applies to the readings for this week. Chick Corea's Spain was recorded on his 1989 album Akoustic Band and is classified as fusion Jazz. This particular performance of the piece was taped in Barcelona and features Jorge Pardo (flute, soprano and alto sax), Carles Benavent (bass), Rubem Dantas (percussion), Hossam Ramzy (Egyptian percussion), Tom Brechtlein (drums), Auxi Fernandez (Flamenco dancer), Tomasito Moreno (Flamenco dancer), and of course Chick Corea on piano. Although our newly formed after school jazz band (grades 6th through 12th) is not performing Spain, we are currently working on broadening our repertoire beyond strictly swing (with a Latin piece) and also improvising.
Koops made several interesting points in her article about the intentions behind being “authentic.” I identify with the authenticity as continuum model the most because I can often relate to the thought of “how far on the continuum a musician can go without negating potential educational benefits of teaching music in the classroom or distorting the music in a disrespectful way.” Many of my students rarely travel beyond the school’s zip code. I think I use that, along with a lack of budget, as an excuse to justify the idea that giving them any level of culture diversity is better than nothing. While that might be true, as Koops states, teachers need to teach from the authentic end of the continuum and the extra time and effort to do so results in an improved musical experience.
The entire performance is 18:35. If you want to
hear the melody most commonly identified with the song, jump to 6:34.
Stefanie, I just listened to a phenomenal recording of this the other day. I was blown away by its creativity, and I was equally mesmerized by this performance! The dancer adds a new dimension of expression. I often have those same thoughts about at what point modifying songs of other cultures to fit into our teaching reality becomes disrespectful or lacking educational/musical value. I think that most of us would agree with you that the extra effort is worth it to improve our students musical experiences.
ReplyDeleteThis was very entertaining to listen and watch. Where I had taught last year the students rarely went past their zip code as well. To bring something to the students either in videos from YouTube to as none biased of music you can get to teach the students about a different culture. I wondered the same thing as Chelsea this week of where is the line when modifying a piece becomes disrespectful. I really liked this piece and it represents the culture in a jazz fusion genre.
ReplyDeleteStefanie,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your post! This is one of my favorite pieces. I think you bring up a great point about the difficulty of incorporating World Music in our classrooms when many of our students have little opportunity to travel and actually experience different cultures. I think that our role as educators is to help bring these cultures to life through our teaching. This involves encompassing ourselves into the culture and doing our own research to be able to provide our students with authentic multicultural experiences. In cases like this piece I think we must say true to the intended style of the piece and not alter major features. I agree with Chelsea's point and would wonder at times, at what point does modification become disrespectful rather than just adjusting to meet the needs of all students. I think the key is remembering the original context of the piece and how and for what purpose the music was created. Great video!
What a fantastic video! Yes, viewing authenticity as a continuum can be freeing in the classroom, but it is great that you are all discussing the importance of establishing a line, a guidepost, something to establish where one might step too far on the continuum. Which criteria will you use for yourself to mark that point?
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