raúlrsalinas and the Jail Machine: My Weapon Is My Pen

Articles from The Echo, Texas State Prison,Huntsville: (aka the Walls Unit)

ArticlesfromTheEcho,TexasStatePrison, Huntsville (aka the Walls Unit) Quartered Notes • January 1964 by Roy Salinas THE REVOLUTIONARY CONCEPTS of the avant garde have always managed to raise more than a few eyebrows in each respective phase of the arts. As jazz writer Don Hackman so aptly stated, “Revolutions in art, like revolutions in society, inevitably affect the lives of everyone .” Whether it be the action painters in art, the chosisme (thingishness) novelists in literature, the “new wave” screen writers in motion pictures , or the “new thing” exponents in modern jazz, the experimentalists are still at work. In 1958, an obscure young Texan armed with a white plastic saxophone and a bagful of original compositions invaded the studios of Contemporary Records; and the sounds that came about through this recording session were completely devoid of any ties with the more accepted forms of conventional jazz. IF THE RADICAL BIRTH of bop had stood the jazz world on its ears (and it did!), then this new iconoclastic music was more astounding. The album bearing these innovations was appropriately titled Something Else! Almost overnight Ornette Coleman, the saxophonist mentioned above, became the center of a controversy that divided musicians into two camps. The advocates who championed this new arrival—among those being John Lewis of the Modern Jazz Quartet fame and the immortal Dizzy Gillespie, believed that this was a further extension of Charlie Parker’s New Directions and Dizzy’s Things to Come. The opposing camp viciously attacked Coleman and vulgarly branded his music “anti-jazz.” The critics also joined in the fray. Some hoped that by defending the “new thing” their names might be written in the history book of jazz should it become the next step in jazz evolution . Others simply wrote about the new thing as best they understood it. THERE WERE OTHER listeners: the young musicians who would eventually emerge as disciples of this latest sound in modern music. They listened faithfully, hailed the new prophet, and religiously adopted his tenets; by the early 60’s they were ready to go out and preach their scripture to the world. The stunning music produced by these young rebels has been accused of creating unpleasant sounds to the ear and feelings of uneasiness because of the raw emotional expressions they deal with. All manner of eerie grunts and shrieks are heard; the effect most widely employed is a haunting and agonizing cry of the human voice. If the message holds no validity in jazz because of the almost nihilistic moods of anger, despair, and indifference, it is for the listener to decide. TECHNICALLY THE REVOLT is more evident. As is said of Coleman , “All logic, order, and continuity seem to be lost in his playing.” He employs a complete freedom of improvisation without regard for chord structures or measure lines. John Coltrane’s approach is through his exploration as to the extent of scalar improvisations. Still other members eliminate or reject all harmonic or melodic devices, relying upon rhythmic patterns. Can this be passed off as a lack of technique on the part of the musicians as some would have it, or is it a new path towards the development of jazz? While avant garde jazz has more opponents than supporters (or so the strongly voiced opinions would lead one to believe), it is interesting and paradoxical to note that it is becoming more of an accepted way of playing. r a ú l rsa l i n as a n d t h e ja i l m ac h i n e 34 Perhaps the importance and logic of this current transition will not seem clear until another decade or two has passed. Then it will probably be recognized as an essential addition to the myriad schools of sound which make up the wonderful world of jazz. ■ ■ ■ Quartered Notes • February 1964 by Roy Salinas THROUGHOUT THE PAST YEAR there were a great number of prominent deaths in all stations of life. Popes and Presidents died; Poets and Painters also died. And so, out of the midst of these luminaries , one death caused grief to fall on the music world. Music lovers as well as musicians were saddened by the passing of Dinah Washington. Death paid its untimely call to her as she slept in the early morning hours of December 14. Thus another major jazz voice was taken from the music field. From Dinah’s teenage days with...