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Connection, Relevance, and a Layman's Interpretation of Neuroscience
Anthony Dean-Harris
Editor-in-Chief
anthony.deanharris@nextbop.com / @i_ADH
Earlier this week, poet Bassey Ikpi said on Twitter, "I don't understand why films without big stars don't get coverage when it's films without big stars that need coverage the most." While Ikpi was speaking about the realm of black independent film in this situation, to me, upon reading her comment, the answer was pretty apparent-- the brain has to compartmentalize knowledge it deems important, and it normally will do this by making connections to other things in the forefront. Maybe I'm just talking about myself and maybe I'm pontificating just a little too much, but it just makes sense that for the things we learn, it's easier for those things to connect to things we already know. We retain skills by constantly practicing them. We learn tasks related to our jobs or hobbies that we take on for seasons or for all our lives. (We are what we see everyday.) If too much time passes without accessing that knowledge regularly, details may fade-- our minds not sweating the small stuff. But it's not like we focus on the random unless there's some sort of visceral connection to where we already are. It's pretty hard to remember details of things that we don't find relevant. So when it comes to something far outside what we know, it helps to have a rope connected to our home shore. While it's easy to empathise with Ikpi's point, the root to this question is the key-- the work has to connect to the audience.
Vijay Iyer, Capturing Your World In the Moment
Written by
Anthony Dean-Harris
Editor-in-Chief
anthony.deanharris@nextbop.com / @i_ADH
Interview by
Jonathan Wertheim
Staff Writer
jon.wertheim@gmail.com / @rtbjazz
It's pretty difficult to picture a time in which pianist Vijay Iyer hasn't emanated calm. In every interview, tweet, and essay, Iyer has always shown a depth of wisdom and serenity, even when his music can at times portray an immense freneticism, especially in his most recent album on the ACT label, Accelerando. It is only upon tapping this wisdom can one find that his calm in contrast with his ever-present potential for frenzy is always rooted in his ability to capture the moment.
On Festivals, Balance, and Accessibility
Anthony Dean-Harris
Editor-in-Chief
anthony.deanharris@nextbop.com / @i_ADH
It's no secret that I'm a devout Baptist. Sure, my general curmudgeonly nature makes my Sunday morning tweets the direct tonal antithesis to Chris "Daddy" Dave's, but when it comes to Wednesday night bible study, I'm a pretty regular fixture because I like learning about the tenets of my faith in an advanced classroom setting more than the actual communion of saints. Anyway, yesterday at my church's bible study, the topic of discussion moved to the questioning of the historical incorporation of aspects of other belief structures as a tool to spread the Judeo-Christian faith, i.e. Christmas trees, the idea of Christmas moving to December in the first place, Easter eggs, etc. (The pastor was away this week so these are the topics that just so happen to come up without his freewheeling structure that normally occurs because we definitely are supposed to be learning about the Millennial Kingdom which occurs after the seven years of Tribulation period [briefly discussed in Revelation 20 but additional context for this period is discussed throughout Old Testament prophecy and covenants].) I posited that while taking on various aspects of other faiths does indeed muddle our religion's purity, a recognition of the origins of these exterior factors is absolutely necessary for Christians to contextualize what is occurring and that ultimately those same external factors are tools to make the Judeo-Christian faith more appealing around the world. It's certainly not a new argument. It clearly must have been made when these aspects were first taken on and there were undoubtedly early clergy who fought vehemently about such matters. This likely may be one of those things that will be fought for time immemorial, or at least (according to the Christian faith) until Christ returns, but a unilateral moving of Christmas to September or April or whenever doesn't seem all that likely-- like throwing the baby out with the bathwater, much like trying to stem the tide of non-jazz acts steadily encroaching on jazz festival lineups.
On Voice and Scene
Anthony Dean-Harris
Editor-in-Chief
anthony.deanharris@nextbop.com / @i_ADH
I don't get out often enough. It's a sad, but true fact. As a non-driving San Antonio, Texan who essentially lives in an exurb, I'm utterly reliant on our fair city's faulty public transportation system, so I'm not often out at night. This whole month, I have essentially been ignoring Jazz Appreciation Month and its discussion of the importance of scene (relished in the now past Jazz Media Day), a topic I have often grappled with internally at times in this space, because I have felt unqualified to discuss it. (Although, I have also found it a little difficult to reconcile discussing local issues on an international site. It's still something we try to evolve around here.) Still, I have been meditating on the matter much over the last month. As an editor, I tend to think a lot about revering distinct authorial voice. The essence of this idea is that I like what some folks have to say. One mustn't forget this root, for I have over time forgotten until now that in musicianship, the same principle abides-- I rather like what some folks, from where I live or across the globe, have to say musically and how they choose to say it.
The Hazard of Should
Anthony Dean-Harris
Editor-in-Chief
anthony.deanharris@nextbop.com / @i_ADH
The rapper Lil B the Based God gave a lecture at New York University yesterday. As my Twitter stream was aflutter with incredulous non sequiturs of what was growing into a rather monumental event, I, along with likely many others, thought this was a bunch of utter nonsense but I held out hope that lines like "When I was younger, I didn't even know how to walk. I was so self-conscious" and "Every single person you meet, look at them like a golden million dollar baby" would make sense in context. This morning, the transcript of this lecture hit the internet and while seeing how all these phrases fit together helped my understanding of what was said that afternoon and a little more about Lil B's general appeal, I still couldn't help but feel like I was seriously out of the loop. Why is this guy who honestly doesn't seem all that bright seemingly praised for his ignorance, standing in absolute astonishment of the workings of the human nervous system in the same way the Insane Clown Posse are perplexed at the working of magnets? Some are aghast that he receives such praise, that this should not be. However, much like I must always keep in mind that when it comes to society the collective heaping of praise in that we are what we see everyday (I told you that idea would be pretty pivotal), should is not a descriptor we should keep in mind when discussing the taste of the zeitgeist.