Originally appeared in The Boston Book Review
. . . the
charismatic relationship Afro-Americans have to this society can be as
irresponsibly decadent as it can be high-minded, joyous, soberly critical, and
cautionary. We have as much responsibility for the health of our democracy as
anyone else.
"The All-American Skin Game, or, The Decoy of Race, The
Long and the Short of It, 1990-1994"
HB: You use jazz as a metaphor for democracy in "The
Skin Game."
SC: It seems to me to be an aesthetic realization of the
checks and balances system, and the idea of individual contribution to mass
reality. In a jazz band, you'll often have the same thing happen that happens
when a person wants to convince other people that his or her policy idea should
be embraced. The great bassist Ron Carter said that in a band whoever is
playing the strongest idea will convince everybody else to come his way. In a
sense it reflects the democratic process.
The constitutional structure is based on periodically
reinterpreting the relationship that the people have to the government, to the
laws, to the business sector. In a jazz band, we know the songs -- "My
Funny Valentine," "Stella by Starlight," etc. -- but they are remade
by improvisations improvisations. Improvisation allows you to reconsider the
way you've approached something before, to see it over and over.