Chris Adler and American Music

The lecture that Christopher Adler gave a few weeks ago was very interesting. His music is quite intricate. In listening to him talk, you can tell that there is a lot of thought that goes into the creation of Cambodian/Laotian/Korean music. From some of the readings that I've done about Asian/Indian music, I know that the music contains multiple rhythmic and melodic patterns. We in the "Western" world don't always pick up these intricacies and hear them. So the lecture was indeed interesting to hear before we heard his compositions.
During the lecture I began to think about "American" music and what it really means. At first American music was defined by European influences until the early part of the 20th century. As the US became more of a melting pot of various cultures, so did the musical genres in the US. Musical influences from all over the world were being imported here (and it still is!). This makes true "American" music hard to define. If we go into any of the major US cities, we can easily find different cultures. As we enter these cultural areas we can also hear the different musical sounds that have been brought to this country. But it doesn't always stay in isolated areas. Soon it becomes part of the larger musical scene. One can always look at the early TV shows such as I Love Lucy and see how the character Ricky Ricardo brings his Cuban beat to the musical scene. American music is really a misnomer...there "ain't" such a thing!
American music is made from various cultural influences. Chris Adler added to this fact when he presented his own compositions. Clearly here was this Anglo-Saxon (one presumes) American creating music from Asiatic influences. Did it sound "American"? That's up to the listener. The interesting matter is that the music was created in America, performed in America, written by an American, but is it "American"? I hope that the answer is 'yes.' Music in America is as diverse as the people of America. I find it a wonderful asset to have this diversity in our musical heritage. Without this diversity and creativity, our musical culture would indeed become quite stagnant.