The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #23551   Message #262599
Posted By: Peter Kasin
22-Jul-00 - 03:13 AM
Thread Name: BS: Does the musician's character matter?
Subject: RE: BS: Does the musician's character matter?
I've met people of my parents generation who would not listen to recordings of classical musicians ho stayed in Germany during the nazi era. If they don't want to listen to Furtwangler or Walter Gieseking, that is their own personal decision. Eveyone has their own comfort level with listening to musicians who's values or behavior are found to be abhorrent to them. Personally, I have no ethical problem listening to musicians who have taken drugs, though I am not in favor of hard drugs. Charlie Parker is one of my all-time favorite musicians, for example. I draw the line on another issue. It would be very unfair for people in positions of power, who can hire and fire musicians, to make those decisions based on their judgements of the musician's character. Many jazz musicians of the bebop era, mostly African-Americans, were denied pursuing their livelyhoods when music licenses were ordered to be issued and denied to musicians. This was done because of the drug habits of a number of jazz musicians. That treatment of them was a gross injustice, whatever one's feelings about drugs.