I like so much of this I feel like one of those cranks in the bleachers at Fenway. Blame me for knowing too much about too little, or else letting what I know simply get in the way.
Ditto the five-star review with one exception: the music. Sandburg rose to fame as editor/collector of The American Songbag, a solid five years before the Lomaxes (father and son) under the WPA pillaged the south. This guy loved folk music. The music featured here is a vamp, a loop, complete with noodling solos, whereas a folk tune has a clear beginning, middle, and end. I like the use of the rhythm of the music here, but the drums in the first segment combat the voice. At the very least, ditch the drum version so the words provide the percussion for the piece.
Or else find a recording of a traditional tuning, goose its tempo until it fits Sandburg's rhythm. After all, that was the kind of music lurking in his mind.
Review of What is Poetry?
Jackson Braider
Posted on September 17, 2003 at 08:19 PM
I like so much of this I feel like one of those cranks in the bleachers at Fenway. Blame me for knowing too much about too little, or else letting what I know simply get in the way.
Ditto the five-star review with one exception: the music. Sandburg rose to fame as editor/collector of The American Songbag, a solid five years before the Lomaxes (father and son) under the WPA pillaged the south. This guy loved folk music. The music featured here is a vamp, a loop, complete with noodling solos, whereas a folk tune has a clear beginning, middle, and end. I like the use of the rhythm of the music here, but the drums in the first segment combat the voice. At the very least, ditch the drum version so the words provide the percussion for the piece.
Or else find a recording of a traditional tuning, goose its tempo until it fits Sandburg's rhythm. After all, that was the kind of music lurking in his mind.