- Part of 'A topology of musical encounter' (summary) -
To understand the process that leads from a personal perception of music to a collective musical creation, at first we have to sharpen our views on the exact ‘composition’ of individual musical personalities. The first thing we do is completely abandon any presumed cultural definitions that existst in the physical reality, and redefine them as a possible element in the personal reality of the musician. This doesn’t mean that general cultural aspects don’t exist or are to be ignored completely, but in the field of the personal reality we consider them as just one of the manifold of elements that one’s musical identity can be composed from. We have to let go of the old-fashioned cultural notions where characteristics like nationality, skin colour and religion are the primary determining elements that lead to one’s musical development, and determine a so-called musical style.
From the conversations I had with musicians it proved that especially these generalistic elements in many cases only play a ‘figurative role’ in ones musical perception, and didn’t contain much personal information. Sometimes the musical perspective seemed even diametrically opposed to the musicians ‘general background’, out of conscious rejection or from curiosity to engage in unknown adventure.
“After three years Jazz-conservatory in Groningen I came to the west of Holland. The foremost remarkable characteristic of Amsterdam was the enormous variety in people, colours and backgrounds. In Groningen this was not the case on this scale, it was new and tempting to involve in. I played with the idea for a while to do something with this new cultural surrounding. At a certain moment I met a Moroccan in the tram. He had a keyboard with him and we started to talk. I was initially interested in West-African music, but many people were already doing this, and North-African music was still a large territory to explore. One thing led to another and I started to play in his band. The band became a big success at that time among Moroccans in Holland and in Morocco as well. Later I went to University to study the language, made extensive travels to Morocco and founded a small network of Moroccan musicians in Holland to collaborate. I developed a new role for the guitar player within the context of this musical culture. I have been involved with Maghreb music and culture now for about 15 years and it is still inspiring. The story is not finished yet.”
- in conversation with Jan-Wouter Oostenrijk, guitarist
Jan-Wouter’s story is a striking example how cultural background, social surrounding, co-incidence and tendency towards innovation go hand in hand in the personal history of one’s musical development. It may be clear that there is no use anymore to view him as a musician with roots in the North-east of Holland. At best we should consider this aspect of his personality one of the initial impulses that led him to involve consciously with totally different influences.
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