Wait just a minute, you’re into metal? I don’t think you can claim both that and to be an expert on music. Note: louder does not equal better.
And for a minute there I thought you actually were a musician. 
Thelonious Monk.
Now that’s unfair. There was the 1984 spot, and the Swedish Bikini Team spot and…uh, uh let’s see…I’ll have to get back to you.
Could you expand on that a bit? The idea that Race doesn’t exist biologically, I’m just curious to hear your thoughts on that.
(And Thelonius was THE man… Though if you’re going to go into Oral storytelling, nothing beats Homer).
Bolded: That’s all you needed to say, really. Not for one moment did I think you were racist, simply a lapse in prejudice thinking. We can all think one thing, and remember that we don’t really believe that… then act on the right choice. In the end, that’s all that matters.
Not really comparable pianists.
FWIW, The black music that so heavily influenced most of the 20th century, I agree, is some of the cream of the crop. But that’s so temporal.
EVH?
You probably think metal = shit like Poison and Motley Crue, don’t you? At its most serious, metal is almost akin to jazz in terms of complexity amd invention. It’s louder, but in the right hands (e.g. mine), that’s a vital energy which is controlled and played for the widest possible range of dynamic expression. My first college major (before I dropped out the first time) was classical guitar. I know theory, I know classical (at least I used to. I kind of got away from it), I know a little something about jazz and I even had a little phase of listen to Indian ragas (what kind of hippie would I be if I handn’t). Not all metalheads are hairsprayed idiots banging out three chord power ballads. Some of us took it pretty seriously in the 90’s, and we really experimented with unusual time signatures, harmonic dissonance, dynamic structures, etc. I was also unc ommonly educated and literate for a songwriter in that genre, so the lyrical material was fairly intelligent (if I do say so myself), as well. I never once wrote a song about sex and I never once wrote a love song.
Okay. Ever heard of Art Tatum or Jellyroll Morton?
As a lover of progressive rock, metal and science, this is one of my all time favorites.
Just that race doesn’t actually have any biological meaning. Humans are not subspeciated. There is only one human “race.” Race exists as a sociological constructt, partly based on superficial genetic characteristics, but biologically speaking, there is no such recognized division.
Dropped out of school? Couldn’t handle all that object learnin’? For the life of me though, if I had the skill to be classical guitar, I could not imagiine choosing to play something else, especially metal—which I admittedly don’t get. But a good friend of mine I worked with was like you. I knew he had been in metal bands, than one day he started playing some classical Spanish piece. I was floored.
I’ve just just fucking with you here. I don’t think you’re a racist. I think you just, as you say, made an off-hand comment and it got scrutinized. You simply misspoke.
But then you went and made that comment about basketball. I KNOW you’re not trying to tell me that some black player is better than Bob Coozy? I mean, I’ve never even seen anyone attempt that running two-hand chest shot. And he used to pass the ball around his back!!! So, come on!!!
Yes, and they are also jazz pianists.
You cannot really compare them to a classical pianist. You cannot say that Rachmaninoff is a pianist better than Tatum or that Armstrong is a better trumpeter than Hardenberger. The only fair assessment is to say they are top-level talents at the types of music they play.
Then you never noticed the size of Rachmaninoff’s hands. He wrote things that he and a limited number of pianists could play correctly.
I love Monk, although he’s not my favorite jazz pianist. But I see virtually no parallels with Rachmaninoff besides genius. Monk has his place and the Russian his.
Your question about “Who is the white Satchmo?” etc. reminds me of the bigoted comments I used to hear against women in the early days of the women’s movement: "You can’t do science! Name a woman who compares with Einstein!"
Who’s the black Krupa? It doesn’t matter! There is too much untapped talent out there to be passing judgment on who’s the best in music. You seem to be limiting yourself to jazz and blues anyway. I’m surprised you’ve dirtied yourself with anything that began in the Southland.
– She who saw Patti Austin and the Count Basie Orchestra this weekend
This… this is really just… This is…
I can’t say it. I’m just not in the mood.
But I mean come on! Do you not stop and think, even for a tiny split second, about maybe what the obvious reply is going to be to something you’re thinking about saying?
I mean, do you have no inner dialogue at all?
-FrL-
On the one hand, you don’t think there is a biological category of race.
On the other hand, you think there are studies purporting to show that in general, black people’s brains work differently than white people’s brains. (And to be clear: You are inclined to think there could be something to these studies.)
These two do not compute together.
-FrL-
Awesome video, and Tool is a perfect example of the kind of intelligent metal I was talking about.
Hey, on a less pit-like note, I have an off topic question. What do metal fans think of Metalocalypse?
Even though its a parody, I take it to have demonstrated to me that metal can be real music. (I knew this in theory already, but didn’t experience it til seeing this series.) Weird reaction? Or makes sense? I mean from a metal perspective.
-FrL-
I’m really surprised Diogenes would say something like this, especially considering the massive amounts of discussion here and elsewhere about statements like “Asians are really smart” or “Jews are good at making money” or (even more relevant) “blacks are good dancers/athletes.”
I can’t remember him ever weighing in on that topic, but I wonder if he draws a distinction? Or if he thinks the above is a-OK too?