Williams’s radiant sound and adventitious origins have made her a key figure in a diverse dawn for the solo guitar. Long dominated by much-mythologized white men like John Fahey, the form’s demographic is slowly broadening to include those who have often been omitted, including women, nonbinary instrumentalists and people of color. These musicians are paying little mind to the traditional godheads. They are, instead, expanding the fundamental influences within solo guitar, incorporating idioms sometimes deemed verboten in what was once a homogenized scene.
Let me first of all outline what I am not doing here: I have absolutely nothing against this kind of music--like all musical genres it contains more interesting and less interesting examples. I also have nothing against any of the artists talked about. My attitude is more power to them and let a hundred flowers bloom. But what I do find irritating is the little threads of ideology that seem to be required to be woven in--and to actually be the basic stimulus behind the article. Are white men like John Fahey "much-mythologized" or simply fine musicians of an earlier generation? Have musicians of color "been omitted" and if so by whom and with what means? It seems to me that great black guitarists like B. B. King and Jimi Hendrix loom very large in the guitar's recent history. Also, what idioms were "deemed verboten"? I don't even know what that means. Also, again, deemed by whom?
As this music moves beyond the realm of obscure collectors, its audience and attention have grown, prompted by the possibilities of players who sound as different as they look.
This brings us back to what really bothers me: this story is really about how a group of musicians look more than how they sound, because, to my ears, there is a whole lot less of interest here than is promised. I find this over and over in the way popular music is covered in the mass media: articles are written that wildly rave about what is fairly ordinary music.
I keep coming back to that headline: The Face of Solo Guitar. But it is a misnomer. This is all about the face of the performer, not the instrument. As long as that face is non-binary, female or of a person of color, then the music is somehow sacralized by this. If a young white, Jewish male guitarist were to come along, I guess that's just tough luck for him! Too bad dude, you just are not "diverse" in the right way.
Here is a track from the article: "Urban Driftwood" by Yasmin Williams:
4 comments:
Robert Johnson wasn't mythologized as selling his soul at the crossroads to gain guitar playing powers? The use of "much mythologized" seems, well, rockist to me. I have got no objection to BIPOC contributing to changes in Windham Hill style instrumental music but what I heard in the video reminded me of Windham Hill sounds and vibes from decades ago. It's well-crafted but I think I can understand why you came away from the article thinking it was more about the changing "face" rather than the changing "sounds". Karl Hagstrom-Miller's Segregating Sound was a fascinating book I read a few years back that made a long-form case that the Jim Crow of the music industry was set up often despite the fact that working class musicians were observably exchanging musical ideas across the color lines people were trying to enforce at the legal and recording music industry levels.
I get a sense that NYT contributors are sometimes stuck with an intra-industry perspective and an intra-genre perspective.
Yes, especially Robert Johnson, mythologized by English rockers.
I had almost forgotten about the Windham Hill genre. The Williams piece especially seems like that sort of formless noodling updated with a more hip rhythm section.
I think the musicians are usually freely exchanging ideas, but in the past the music business side saw different market places, divided by race.
Bryan, thanks for this post. The topic and the NYT story have so many hooks (or in current parlance, triggers) for a Curmudgeon-in-Training looking for an opportunity to vent/rant on a grey Sunday morning.
"much mythologized" - Was there any other avenue open to the author? John Fahey has been dead for 20 years.
"looks, not sound" - Oh for the days before MTV and the music video, when it was the sound of music that was the critical (only) material factor in assessing quality. Has that essence really changed? Does Yuja Wang's wardrobe trump her pianistic interpretation? Is it more important that Measha Brueggergosman is a woman of colour or that she has a marvelous voice?
That is probably enough grumping. I have to get back to listening to my music of choice and being grateful that I am free to make that choice.
Happy Sunday listening, David!
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