Musical Notation
by George Rivera
Imagine Dizzy and Bird, Miles and Trane...
October 1, 2000 – I have always been an optimist for the most part. There have been bouts of pessimism here and there; however, for the most part the glass would remain half full. I do believe that if one has nothing good to say then maybe the best thing to do is just zip it. This has always been my philosophy. However, there comes a time when one has to speak out.
Just this past week I received a letter marked “Urgent” from my doctor’s office. The letter directed me to call the office to set up an appointment to discuss the results of my latest physical. Needless to say just about every life-threatening situation ran through my mind for a period of four days between the letter and the actual appointment. When I arrived for the appointment things would get much more complicated and a new set of test would have to be ordered. When we go through these things we tend to get introspective.
Late last night, while channel surfing, I stumbled on a late re-run of Don Francisco’s show. There was this guy hawking his book on how to be successful. At the point I catch the show the guy is talking about how one must keep a positive attitude. The guy was explaining how this was paramount, especially so upon awakening in the morning. With that I turned off the television and turned on the night music.
Upon awakening this morning with my positive attitude I turned on the television and thus began my latest round of channel surfing. I caught an advertisement for a posthumous tribute to Tito Puente, which was just about to start. I decided to check it out. Much to my surprises the show was nothing but a Cuban slant on Latin music. It appears that Tito had infiltrated the Cuban music scene, and that everything he did was pretty much a rip-off of other Cuban musicians. People, can’t we all just get along? So what if the music originated in Cuba. Is it so bad that it survived thanks mostly to Puerto Ricans like Tito Puente, Tito Rodriguez, and the Fania roster of predominately Puerto Rican musicians? Yeah, Dizzy and others baptized the marriage of Jazz and Latin rhythms “Afro-Cuban Jazz”; however, it was James Reese Europe who recorded what is considered the very first Jazz recording with a crew of Puerto Rican musicians, which included Rafael Hernandez on trombone. So which came first, Afro-Cuban Jazz or Jazz?
You know, what we need is to forget all this constant bickering. Let’s all try to get along and move on in life. Maybe a guy like Arturo Sandoval should try patching things up with Paquito D’Rivera. Imagine that, we’re talking Dizzy and Bird, Miles and Trane. Wouldn’t you rather listen to the results of that coming together? I don’t know about you, but I sure would. 'Nuff said…
Hasta la proxima, ciao…
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