Zur Schlüsselfunktion der Musik in der afro-amerikanischen Kultur
Archie Shepp über die Musiktradition der schwarzen Amerikaner
In the Afro-American culture, music has always occupied a key position. The principal meaning of oral modes of communication and their functional importance in Black American music derives from the fact that this culture originated from an oral, nonliterate tradition. While black slaves were able to continue much of the centrality which music has in traditional African cultures, the social, economic and political conditions Black Americans had to live under, reinforced numerous functional features in their music. So in multiple ways black music served as a survival strategy. As oral communication it strongly helped to maintain and pass on specific cultural values and to keep alive a historical memory of black roots. As a symbol of black identity and as the most prominent black cultural denominator it played a crucial role in the cultural emancipation. Music to a certain extent also stimulated the socialization processes of both acculturation and self-chosen (as opposed to enforced) cultural exclusivity of the Black Americans. The latter points to the self-protective mechanism in black music. There are some fundamental qualities which are significant virtually in all epochs and styles of Black American music up until the presence, the most salient of which are - besides idiomatic and rhythmic principles the communicative and cathartic components. Contributing to the notion of continuity or "Unity of Black Music" one paragraph is dedicated to show the cross-fertilization and permeability of black secular and religious music. In another section this claim of unity is explained with regard to the capacity of integrating diverse stylistic elements into a personal improvisational style. Some elucidations on the term "Tradition" in black music and on the "Revitalization of Black Oral Tradition", which became especially conspicuous in modern styles of black music, add to this topic. Most of the discussed topics, are by statements of Archie Shepp, quoted from several interviews. Particular attention is given to some aspects and periods of Shepp's artistic development, such as his attempt to combine more popular forms of black music with so-called jazz music and his effort to re-create and protect traditional styles of black music. These sections on Shepp's music reveal some characteristics and general problems of Afro-American music. It is explained finally, in which way basic properties of the black oral tradition conflict with the demands of the modern music market and how black creativity (or creativity in general) and the commercial interests of our modern media exclude each other.