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Karen Bennett's avatar

This is an outstanding piece of work, Ted! The part about Harlem pianists worrying about their rivals stealing their ideas reminds me of something Sun Ra told me years ago (let’s stipulate that Sun Ra was a tad paranoid): He said that when he was playing at the Club DeLisa, Ahmad Jamal would ‘hang out on the pay phone’ nearby in the club, listening to Ra so he could steal his progressions. Thank you for such an enjoyable essay.

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Sherman Alexie's avatar

Wow. What a story. My experience of this kind of conflict is entirely in the literary world. And I think of the great literary feuds of the past and present, namely Richard Ford spitting on Colson Whitehead after a wickedly smart bad review. I wonder if the mutual benefits apply in the book world like they apply among musicians. Did Mailer and Vidal become better writers because of their rivalry? What other examples exist of this in music world? Just great stuff to think about. Thanks.

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