All That Jazz

[Tom Maddox]

Music and Pynchon:

On the evidence of the books (and without doing any kind of diligent 
research here), we know that Pynchon is familiar with and evidences 
affection for Rossini and invokes Wagner repeatedly; also, from his 
portrayal of McClintic Sphere (purportedly based on Ornette Coleman, as I 
recall, but I don't remember where I heard this) in _V._ that he has a 
certain respect for jazzmen; on the basis of the importance of the 
harmonica and blues to Slothrop and more generally in _GR_, that he 
respects the blues.  

These things seem clear to me (though I'd be happy to have them either 
corrected or made clearer); conjectures about the Beatles, &c. seem 
totally unverifiable.

Biographically, we also know he has at least a peripheral connection to
the Northern California music scene of the mid-to-late 60s through his
friendship with Richard Farina--himself a musician and married to Mimi,
Joan Baez's sister.  In fact, I saw Joan and Mimi at a club named the
Matrix in San Francisco in the late 60s (year?  not sure, but after
Richard's death), in the audience for a short-lived band (though one with
serious fans) named the Blues Project.  And of course I've wondered since
if Pynchon was sitting at the table, but at the time it didn't even occur
to me, more's the pity. 

So I am willing to guess that Pynchon knows something about folk music 
and rock and roll and has seen it from the performer's standpoint.

Tom