It's a scary title, I know. But I have thoughts.
I'm sure you've all seen, or at least heard about, this year's Super Bowl halftime show with Rihanna. I'm sure you've also heard at least one negative comment about it; personally, I enjoyed it. I am not one to listen to pop music, including Rihanna (I mean come on, I write a jazz blog), but there is no denying her cultural ubiquity as a performer and songwriter, or the sheer scale of the show. I hear her songs all the time without having any idea that it's her, and half the songs she performed in the halftime show I've heard at some point in my life.
Now, it's of course a tradition to crap on Super Bowl halftime shows for various reasons; my guess is that nobody can outdo the Michael Jackson show, which is a high bar from what I've heard. This year, though, I was quite surprised to see Rihanna's performance, hear she was pregnant, and still hear people complaining.
My main reason for writing this is that someone I know shared a video of Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald (two singers I really like, by the way) singing "The Lady is a Tramp", with a caption along the lines of "Man, this would be so much better if Ella put her fingers on her crotch!" Definitely a sincere statement. Essentially, this post covers the thoughts I had after seeing it and wisely decided not to put in a Facebook comment.
First off, Ella and Rihanna are both cultural icons; Ella was one of the most famous and widely acclaimed practitioners of jazz, as well as just a great singer and improviser, and people far and wide know and likely hum Rihanna songs, despite absence of recent material. Rihanna probably wouldn't sound as good with a jazz combo, nor Ella with electronic production, but that's only compounding on this apples-to-oranges deal. (Plus, both situations would still sound pretty cool.) Two cultural icons in two completely different settings and limitations, two women who made the music they felt compelled to make, and were lucky to become half as popular as they ended up.
In this Facebook post, there's also the implication that Rihanna was too sexually suggestive in her performance. Which yeah, duh. That's always been there. "The Lady is A Tramp" is not a good comparison in making the argument for the old days, when music was wholesome. (Remember Don Giovanni?) Oddly enough, considering this sexual overcharge, another major complaint was that she wasn't doing enough. Which. Not only was she visibly pregnant, but the production that involved a levitating stage and hundreds, maybe even thousands of active dancers was undoubtedly a showpiece. No costume changes or anything like that, but I was still very entertained.
And then, of course, there's the dreaded "same three chords" stance. I definitely get it, there's been plenty of formulaic and bland music produced this century that uses the same three chords. But we all tend to forget that there is still good music with only three chords: the goddamn blues form, among the most widely used forms in all of music. And you can't deny the humanity of a Delta blues singer who only plays three chords on their guitar.
Back to both Ella's and Rihanna's ubiquity; you don't see me making the argument of, "Man, Archie Shepp should really start doing more stripteasing!" Because unfortunately, as great as he is, Archie Shepp has always been a mainstream outsider, especially compared to Ella or Rihanna. Plus, if he did start stripping down in performances, that would definitely boost ticket sales. This does, however, bring up something that the whole past vs. present debate always glosses over: Shepp in this case represents the 90-95% of dedicated musicians that slip under the radar when the debate concerns the 5% or so heavily projected into the public eye. Quality of music can vary between mainstream and otherwise, but the most well-known performers are usually helped by a marketing force that spray-paints their image on every square inch of the world.
(The thing is, as well, Archie Shepp has seen quite some acclaim in his life, especially after having become an elder statesman in his 70's and 80's. He's definitely more of a figurehead than other musicians I could have named, but that's another talk for another time.)
Now, don't get me wrong. Ella is amazing. Sinatra is classy. Archie Shepp is cultured. But it's beyond me how out of all these people I've mentioned, Rihanna is the most controversial at the moment. For me, it's like this: music is about figuring out what sounds you want to create, and finding other like-minded musicians or artists who can give you wholehearted support. If people like it, that's great. If people don't like it, then keep doing your best to create what you want, regardless of people never come around to it in your lifetime. I don't go out of my way to listen to Rihanna, many people do the same with Ella, and God help anyone else who binges Archie Shepp's discography. Everyone's taste is different, which should be a given and is in fact a good thing.
That being said, a multitude of dancers and a singer in the center? Sounds like a Busby Berkley production to me...
