[Y3a]

Legendary singer TONY BENNETT has slammed his home country of America for not contributing anything other than jazz music to world art and culture. The IF I RULED THE WORLD crooner feels that Europe and Asia offer far more culturally than America does. Bennett says, "I have travelled around the world to Asia and Europe. They show you what they have contributed to the world. The British show you theatre, the Italians show you music and art, the French show you cooking and painting, and the Germans show you science. "The only thing that the United States, which is still a young country, has contributed culturally to the world is jazz - elongated improvisation. It's tragic." And Bennett feels that Americans don't even appreciate the impact of jazz in popular culture. He says, "Fifty years from now people will be bowing to DIZZY GILLESPIE and CHARLIE PARKER, just like impressionist painters like MONET, who were starving in their day. The Americans don't even know what they have come up with."


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Looks like senility is transparent to the user here...

Tony made a chunk O change off his records that the tastless, artless Americans bought. What does this say about HIS work? Must be crap, huh? Tony is no intellectual either, but he plays one in print. LOL

[analogika]

Originally Posted by Y3a

"Fifty years from now people will be bowing to DIZZY GILLESPIE and CHARLIE PARKER, just like impressionist painters like MONET, who were starving in their day."

That much, at least, is a complete truism.

[::maroma::]

What's wrong with that statement? I don't think he sounds senile at all. In fact, he sounds more sane than our current President.

[Y3a]

So, a non-cultural item "Science" is a German thing? Hmmm.. I guess landing on the moon is nuthin? Face it, he's an old moron who is blathering. He can't even sing anymore.

[ghporter]

I hate to say this, but how is a Moon Landing a contribution to art and culture? That's what Tony was talking about. As a nation, we've moved pop music from innovative to Britney Spears since Tony started recording. I certainly can't disagree that such a change sucks.

Of course, there's a lot of different kinds of jazz, so that's something. But as a young country, we're still building our culture, and it's hard to compare the cultural contributions of countries that have been around for many centuries to one that's been around only a little over two. I agree that we should be, as a nation, trying harder to be more culturally aware (some of pop culture today makes me retch), but I think Tony's being a little harsh.

[analogika]

Originally Posted by Y3a

So, a non-cultural item "Science" is a German thing? Hmmm.. I guess landing on the moon is nuthin?

Ahem.

Bad example.

Wernher von Braun was a top Nazi egghead imported after the war.

Put down that flag.

[BRussell]

The US probably has the best science in the world, and has for decades. Not far and away the best, but the best still. We obviously don't have the culture that centuries of European civilization, including the renaissance, will include, but it's not really fair to compare two centuries of American history to the entire history of other countries.

[Doofy]

It's a pretty standard thing to not notice your own culture and the influence it has on the rest of the World. Simple as that.

[ghporter]

Doofy points out something that jogged my memory. The U.S. has indeed produced a lot of culture and "art" that has spread out across the globe. MTV. Televangelism. "Gangsta" rap. Basically the degeneration of established positives into really nasty negatives is a huge part of how our culture has impacted the rest of the world.

Of course a lot of Europeans have for centuries dismissed anything coming from here as uncultured just because it came from here. It doesn't help when it took decades for Gershwin to catch on in France, for example, just because he was American.

[Doofy]

Originally Posted by ghporter

The U.S. has indeed produced a lot of culture and "art" that has spread out across the globe. MTV. Televangelism. "Gangsta" rap. Basically the degeneration of established positives into really nasty negatives is a huge part of how our culture has impacted the rest of the world.

I wouldn't say it's a huge part. While it's true that your country has given the World its fair share of crap, there's also a whole heap of stuff which you guys have given us which is good and positive.

John Wayne. Harley Davidson. Bald eagles. Little House On The Prairie. Jimmy Stewart. Optimism.

[Y3a]

Originally Posted by ghporter

I hate to say this, but how is a Moon Landing a contribution to art and culture? That's what Tony was talking about. As a nation, we've moved pop music from innovative to Britney Spears since Tony started recording. I certainly can't disagree that such a change sucks.

Of course, there's a lot of different kinds of jazz, so that's something. But as a young country, we're still building our culture, and it's hard to compare the cultural contributions of countries that have been around for many centuries to one that's been around only a little over two. I agree that we should be, as a nation, trying harder to be more culturally aware (some of pop culture today makes me retch), but I think Tony's being a little harsh.

Bennett says, "I have travelled around the world to Asia and Europe. They show you what they have contributed to the world. The British show you theatre, the Italians show you music and art, the French show you cooking and painting, and the Germans show you science. "


I'm just examining Tonys words here. HE said Science was culture...