James Brown, Rhythmic Theory, and the “Rite of Spring”

Last night, as I was driving home from work, I caught an interview on the classical radio station. Normally, I think radio interviews can be kind of boring, but this one was different. This conductor (I forget his name) was going to be conducting Stravinsky’s “Rite of Spring,” and he was interviewing James Brown because the music of James Brown was a major influence on the conductor’s theory of rhythm.

Now honestly, I’ve never listened to much James Brown—or much Stravinsky. But the interview was awesome because you had this highbrow classical guy and this old bluesy legend talking shop about the same principles.

The conductor would listen to James Brown and encourage his musicians to check out certain songs to know just how precisely he wanted them to feel and hit the rhythms of Stravinsky. And the radio DJ played various samples from James Brown’s repertoire and from “Rite of Spring” to show us, his audience, the connection.

I can’t even tell you how amazing it was. All of these diverse rhythmic interactions, so seemingly out of place from normalcy and yet so perfectly constructed to fit.

All of a sudden, I have a driving desire to listen to James Brown, not because I haven’t heard any of his songs before, but because after this interview, I am suddenly able to (and hear) the genius in his work that I never recognized before.

Funny how perspective makes all the difference. And how the interaction of two seemingly unrelated musical works can yield such a profound, amalgamated perspective.