There are several things that must be present. Each thing is necessary, but not sufficient. In my opinion, to take away any one thing is to diminish the whole. Motown music takes away more things than does, say, new testament Basie. Punk takes away even more. Classical music takes away almost everything required for lindy hop.Lawrence wrote: Au contraire, I'm pointing to one rhythmic thing (the syncopated rhythm) missing from what we're referring to as "Motown music" and asking why it's considered more "essential" than SEVERAL other essential things that DO carry over. The "one thing missing" problem is the argument with which I am disagreeing.
To you, taking away only one or two things isn't a big deal. To other people, it is. To me, taking jazz music out of the dance is a pretty big dealbreaker. Let me head off the inevitable "but elements of jazz exist in Motown" argument by saying that Motown is not jazz. While Pistol Allen may have been a jazz drummer, he will never admit to playing jazz on any Motown dates.
edited "Earl Palmer" to "Pistol Allen". Earl played on session dates in LA, but Pistol was the Funk Brothers drummer who played on most Motown sessions. He too was a jazz drummer who was told to put aside the jazz for sessions.