If you stood in a vault and the air was suddenly sucked out, it wouldn't be long until you realized just how interdependent the body is with the environment. You may even justifiably wonder: is the air I'm breathing, the air sustaining my very existence, included as internal to my body or excluded as external? Is such an internal/external distinction always apt? In Bodies: Exploring Fluid Boundaries Longhurst suggests that "In ingesting objects into itself or expelling objects from itself, the subject can never be distinct from the objects" (p. 29). This made me think of Maceo Parker's Soul of a Black Man. Where does Maceo's instrument begin? Surely not in the sax, but within his lungs, within his body. And when you hear him play, you not only hear the sound of the sax, but the sound of his breath, the style of his exhale. Growing up I always felt intimate with my sax; I think for some, it's an extension of one's soul.
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Adam, you might be interested in Walker's article "The Moan Within the Tone" - we may or may not read it for class, but it's on the syllabus/in the bibliography.
ReplyDeleteGreat, thank you! I'm really interested in articles that talk about the sax and sax performance, so if anyone knows any articles, books, or journals that are relevant please let me know!
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