4717  Is your Tango like Jazz?

Date: Mon, 22 Jan 2007 11:06:02 -0800 (PST)
From: steve pastor <tang0man2005@yahoo.com>
Subject: [Tango-L] Is your Tango like Jazz?
To: tango-l@mit.edu

Last week USA Today ran an article in which "Wynton Marsalis shows how to put jazz to work"
Marsalis is a big proponent of the cooperative and improvisational nature of playing jazz. And I couldn't help thinking about tango when I read this.
The following is a quote from Marsalis.

"When you listen to great jazz musicians, you hear the respect they have for each other's abilities.
During a performance, most of the musician's time is spent listening to others. You see the trust
they have for each other because they are always making adjustments and improvising based
on what someone else does. I think (drummer) Elvin Jones articulated it best when he said,
"In order to play with someone on a profound level, you have to be willing to die with them."

Is your tango like jazz?





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Date: Wed, 24 Jan 2007 06:48:44 +0000
From: "Russell Ranno" <russellranno@hotmail.com>
Subject: [Tango-L] Is Your Tango Like Jazz?
To: tango-l@mit.edu

Good One Steve,

This similarity between jazz and tango is the only reason I am dancing.
When Elvin Jones says you have to be willing to die with someone, he
probably means it literally, but of course he is also referring to the death
of the ego personality, without which two will never be able to dance as
one.

And if you are locked into memorized patterns, the dance is over before it
begins.

Russell

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Date: Wed, 24 Jan 2007 10:02:18 -0700 (MST)
From: Huck Kennedy <huck@eninet.eas.asu.edu>
Subject: Re: [Tango-L] Is Your Tango Like Jazz?
To: tango-l@mit.edu

<russellranno@hotmail.com> Russell Ranno writes (why do
I suddenly feel like Scooby-Doo? :) :

>
> Good One Steve,
>
> This similarity between jazz and tango is the only
> reason I am dancing. When Elvin Jones says you have
> to be willing to die with someone, he probably means
> it literally,

You really think so? Most musicians I know aren't
the gung-ho foxhole dive-onto-the-hand-grenade types.

> but of course he is also referring to the death of the
> ego personality, without which two will never be able
> to dance as one.

Yes. And along those same lines, when referring to
jazz, he's also probably talking about being willing to
take risks in the search of new heights, with dying on
stage (the music flopping in front of a paying audience)
being a distinct possiblity as an outcome.

When Grateful Dead (not jazz per se, but bear
with me) would improvise, particularly during Drums
and Space, and especially in their earlier years, some
nights they'd pretty much flop, but other nights
they'd magically soar. As a spectator, you'd buy your
ticket and take your chances.

When dancing tango (at a milonga--obviously you
take risks at a practica, that doesn't count) with
women I'm familiar with, I like to take chances like
that from time to time, knowing that occasionally
we'll soar in something new and refreshing, but that
if we flop in the attempt, she won't be making
judgments like, "Well clearly this guy can't dance,
we just flopped," as a stranger probably would.

Huck