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I wasn’t sure where to put this, but I find it interesting. The great Arturo Sandoval talks about the lack of artistry in today’s music. Whether you agree or disagree with him, it’s fascinating and worth the read.
I've been tempted to write about what's going on with today's musical taste. I know well that it is a very rugged subject and somewhat difficult to explain. I beg God to allow me to express my point of view without offending anyone; it is not my intention to create any controversy about it; it's just my point of view. I started to play music in 1961, which means I have been making music uninterruptedly for 60 years. From the beginning, I always knew that instrumental music had three fundamental ingredients: MELODY, HARMONY, AND RHYTHM; and in the case that it had a text, we would add a fourth element, no less important. It has always been obvious that all these factors are invaluable to the composer's creative process. Now, as a faithful lover of music, how can we appreciate a musical work if we are in the presence of a song without a well-structured melody, a total absence of harmony, and a subject without content and full of sexual innuendo and expletives?; For me, all this goes against the most elementary principles of what we have learned for so many years about what is something very sacred: MUSIC. My main concern is to see how the youth consume and digest what they promote as "today's music" and the total absence of music education. It is a serious mistake not to have music education programs in schools. If children are not exposed to the rich legacy of music from composers like Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Chopin, Rachmaninoff, Debussy, Copland, etc. as well as introduced to the rich legacy of Jazz artists like Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie, Cole Porter, Gershwin, and so many other great Jazz innovators, they will not appreciate more complex music. They will only be exposed to music made for mass appeal—music with a less artistic and aesthetic level for the sole purpose of "selling" a product. That is not art, in my opinion. I consider it an obligation to call attention to this practice and defend one of the blessings that life offers us: MUSIC, which is the one, the only that comforts our soul and causes us indescribable sensations that make us better human beings. I have always felt sad that I have never seen a television program showing true musical works with high artistic and aesthetic values except for some pop music shows. I seriously consider that Jazz has been a great contribution to our country's universal culture, without a doubt; I am sorry that it does not have the dissemination and support it deserves, which I consider a "crime." For example, in our country's case, if we ask a young man who Duke Ellington was, would you know how to answer? or Mozart? as well as the great songs of Stevie Wonder? These are just a few examples; this list could be endless.
I've been tempted to write about what's going on with today's musical taste. I know well that it is a very rugged subject and somewhat difficult to explain. I beg God to allow me to express my point of view without offending anyone; it is not my intention to create any controversy about it; it's just my point of view. I started to play music in 1961, which means I have been making music uninterruptedly for 60 years. From the beginning, I always knew that instrumental music had three fundamental ingredients: MELODY, HARMONY, AND RHYTHM; and in the case that it had a text, we would add a fourth element, no less important. It has always been obvious that all these factors are invaluable to the composer's creative process. Now, as a faithful lover of music, how can we appreciate a musical work if we are in the presence of a song without a well-structured melody, a total absence of harmony, and a subject without content and full of sexual innuendo and expletives?; For me, all this goes against the most elementary principles of what we have learned for so many years about what is something very sacred: MUSIC. My main concern is to see how the youth consume and digest what they promote as "today's music" and the total absence of music education. It is a serious mistake not to have music education programs in schools. If children are not exposed to the rich legacy of music from composers like Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Chopin, Rachmaninoff, Debussy, Copland, etc. as well as introduced to the rich legacy of Jazz artists like Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie, Cole Porter, Gershwin, and so many other great Jazz innovators, they will not appreciate more complex music. They will only be exposed to music made for mass appeal—music with a less artistic and aesthetic level for the sole purpose of "selling" a product. That is not art, in my opinion. I consider it an obligation to call attention to this practice and defend one of the blessings that life offers us: MUSIC, which is the one, the only that comforts our soul and causes us indescribable sensations that make us better human beings. I have always felt sad that I have never seen a television program showing true musical works with high artistic and aesthetic values except for some pop music shows. I seriously consider that Jazz has been a great contribution to our country's universal culture, without a doubt; I am sorry that it does not have the dissemination and support it deserves, which I consider a "crime." For example, in our country's case, if we ask a young man who Duke Ellington was, would you know how to answer? or Mozart? as well as the great songs of Stevie Wonder? These are just a few examples; this list could be endless.
