Kandahar Social Club
Good Morning!
Monday evening, Mrs. TriSec and I finally caught up with the almost decade old movie, Buena Vista Social Club. It's practically required viewing among Cubans, but we've somehow managed to avoid the in-laws pushing it on us at every opportunity.
Nevertheless, it is a remarkable story, focusing on many of the great Cuban musicians of the 40s and 50s that were overlooked and forgotten in the wake of the revolution. There's some interesting snippets of what life in Cuba is like now, it struck me as being dreary and hard, but that's a common trait among oppressed peoples.
But it got me to thinking. One of the 14 points of fascism is disdain for intellectuals and the arts. I'm not talking about the United States now, but our sorry state of music education, art appreciation, and the crap that passes for music these days is surely suspect.
No, I'm thinking of other totalitarian regimes. The Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, but for years afterwards, music scholars were astonished to discover hundreds of recordings in the former State Archives of wonderful musicians that were completely unknown in the West. I've recently discovered the music of Eldar, an astonishing young pianist from Kyrgystan that would have never seen the light of day under the Soviet regime.
But how does that equate to Kandahar? It really doesn't except to say that how many potential Coltranes or Lennons or Bernsteins are lost forever because they don't have the opportunity? But even larger than that, if all they have is war and survival, there is no opportunity for education, arts, and other higher pursuits. Not only is it the music, but how many doctors, philosophers, diplomats, and scientists will never see the light of day?
Jose Ferrer and Compay Segundo were not forgotten because of the efforts of a couple of dedicated American musicians that defied the government and the travel ban in order to travel to the 'forbidden island' to seek out these men and hear what they know. Are we going to lose a new Einstein, Gandhi, or Jarvik because of the opression and despair we have brought to places in the world?
Monday evening, Mrs. TriSec and I finally caught up with the almost decade old movie, Buena Vista Social Club. It's practically required viewing among Cubans, but we've somehow managed to avoid the in-laws pushing it on us at every opportunity.
Nevertheless, it is a remarkable story, focusing on many of the great Cuban musicians of the 40s and 50s that were overlooked and forgotten in the wake of the revolution. There's some interesting snippets of what life in Cuba is like now, it struck me as being dreary and hard, but that's a common trait among oppressed peoples.
But it got me to thinking. One of the 14 points of fascism is disdain for intellectuals and the arts. I'm not talking about the United States now, but our sorry state of music education, art appreciation, and the crap that passes for music these days is surely suspect.
No, I'm thinking of other totalitarian regimes. The Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, but for years afterwards, music scholars were astonished to discover hundreds of recordings in the former State Archives of wonderful musicians that were completely unknown in the West. I've recently discovered the music of Eldar, an astonishing young pianist from Kyrgystan that would have never seen the light of day under the Soviet regime.
But how does that equate to Kandahar? It really doesn't except to say that how many potential Coltranes or Lennons or Bernsteins are lost forever because they don't have the opportunity? But even larger than that, if all they have is war and survival, there is no opportunity for education, arts, and other higher pursuits. Not only is it the music, but how many doctors, philosophers, diplomats, and scientists will never see the light of day?
Jose Ferrer and Compay Segundo were not forgotten because of the efforts of a couple of dedicated American musicians that defied the government and the travel ban in order to travel to the 'forbidden island' to seek out these men and hear what they know. Are we going to lose a new Einstein, Gandhi, or Jarvik because of the opression and despair we have brought to places in the world?
posted by Unknown at
05:09
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