Jazz and Philosophy

爵士乐与哲学

By Douglas Groothuis^[1]

文/道格拉斯·格鲁秀斯

Philosophy warms to[2] jazz, but not as much, perhaps, to rock or blues. We can talk through the night about rock and blues, and it may be fun. But just how philosophical can we get about rock and blues – even with the help of a few smart friends and a few adult beverages? Rock is the rambunctious and electrified child that came out of the blues, and the blues are a way to make pain bearable and even enjoyable, once the music does its magic on us. But jazz seems to be more amenable to reflection. It swings[3]; it improvises; it mystifies even as it mesmerizes; its initiates[4] are few, but militant; it is vibrant, but sometimes elusive. It seems that the best rock drummers draw heavily on jazz: Ginger Baker (Cream) and Mitch Mitchell (Jimi Hendrix), making their time keeping[5] more fascinating. (Let’s not bring up John Bonham.)

哲学对爵士乐颇有好感，而对摇滚和蓝调恐怕就有所不同了。摇滚和蓝调能让我们津津有味地聊个通宵，可是，即便邀得几位机敏过人的朋友，再来上几杯酒助兴，又能从摇滚和蓝调中找出多少哲学内涵？摇滚源自蓝调，是蓝调桀骜不驯、激情澎湃的孩子。蓝调则如魔法，一旦起效，可以慰藉苦痛，甚至转苦为乐。然而，更能发人深思的似乎还是爵士乐。它节律翩然，即兴而发，令人如痴如醉，而又倍感神秘；它曲高和寡，内行寥寥，却个个斗志昂扬；它节奏强劲，乐声洪亮，却又时而低回婉转，隐约难辨。那些最出色的摇滚鼓手，包括奶油乐队的金杰·贝克，吉米·亨德里克斯体验乐队的米奇·米切尔，似乎全都大量借鉴了爵士乐（至于约翰·博纳姆，我们就不用再提了吧），以使其鼓点节奏更加引人入胜。

[1]（1957— ），美国丹佛神学院哲学教授。

 

[2] warm to 喜欢；感兴趣。

 

[3] swing 摇摆。爵士乐的重要概念与特征。

 

[4] initiate 内行。

 

[5] 对节奏或节拍的把握和控制。

Philosophy is the discipline of finding meaning and truth through reasoning. It aspires to find the essence in the messes of things and to thrust that essence in our face saying, “So what?” – as did Miles Davis on Kind of Blue. “What is justice?” asked Socrates, when everyone knew – but no one really knew – the answer. “What is jazz?” is much the same: we all know, but do we know? The great philosophers lived and died without swinging (as far as we know). Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, and Augustine[6], may have written about music, but not jazz music. That would have to wait for centuries. Jazz had a centuries long gestation.

哲学是通过推理来探究意义、寻求真理的学问，旨在从杂乱无章的事物中发现本质，然后把它抛在我们面前，大声质问：“那又如何？”迈尔斯·戴维斯在他的专辑《若忧若蓝》（又译《泛蓝调调》）中正是这样做的。“正义到底是什么？”苏格拉底曾如此问道。答案人人知晓，却又无人真正知晓。“爵士乐到底是什么？”的问题与之大同小异：人人都知道，又未必真知道。就我们所知，伟大哲学家的一生从未有过爵士乐之摇摆。苏格拉底、柏拉图、亚里士多德、圣奥古斯丁等哲学家或许有过关于音乐的著述，但并未谈及爵士乐。那尚须几个世纪的等待。爵士乐的诞生也同样历经了几个世纪的孕育。

[6] （354—430），古罗马帝国时期天主教思想家，欧洲中世纪基督教神学、教父哲学的重要代表人物。

 

Like many things, we may come to jazz without articulated intellectual questions. We are not usually in the classroom, but at the club, or auditorium, or sitting in front of our sound system. We listen and are moved. Or not. That is, we feel an immediate response, whatever that may be. Pat Metheny’s response was love at first listen[7]. He did not have to work his way into jazz. It found him. In my late teens, I was drawn to jazz-rock fusion, but still only picked up the crumbs from the dinner plates of jazz. It boggles my mind to[8] think that I had a vinyl album of A Love Supreme, in my senior year of high school – along with my Deep Purple, Yes, and Jimi Hendrix. But I seldom played it. It was beyond me at the time, but not beneath me. It had to wait for me to catch up – and I did.

和诸多事物一样，我们在走近爵士乐的时候，未必能口齿流利、思维连贯地提出理性而深刻的问题。接触爵士乐通常也不是在教室，而是在俱乐部、音乐厅，或者坐在自家的音响系统前。我们倾听，我们感动，抑或无动于衷。也就是说，我们感受的是对音乐一瞬间的反应，不管那反应究竟如何。帕特·梅思尼的反应是一“听”钟情。他不必刻意寻找通往爵士乐之路。爵士乐找到了他。我十八九岁的时候就已痴迷爵士乐与摇滚乐的融合形式——爵士摇滚，但依然只是享用了爵士乐一盘盘美味佳肴中的一点点碎屑而已。一想到我居然在高中毕业前一年就拥有了《无上之爱》的黑胶唱片，和我收藏的深紫乐队、吉米·亨德里克斯体验乐队（当然少不了它）的作品放在一起，我的头都是蒙的，实在难以想象。但那时我很少把它拿出来播放。不是它不够好，而是它超出了我当时的水平。它得等着我，等着我迎头赶上——我赶上了。

[7] 第一次听就深深喜欢。love at first sight（一见钟情）的拟作。

 

[8] sth boggle the mind 使人无法想象；使人难以接受。

Since then this philosopher[9] has come to savor this music, a distinctively American art form (but not limited to America). But what is philosophical about jazz? Yes, some jazz men are philosophical: John Coltrane supremely so. But that is not all I mean.

从那时起，我这个研究哲学的人就开始细细品味起爵士乐这种风靡世界但最具美国风情的音乐。说来说去，爵士乐的哲学性到底指什么？没错，有些爵士乐演奏家本身就深邃睿智、通理明哲：约翰·克特兰就是个极好的例子。但我要说的还不只于此。

[9] 作者自指。鉴于作者为神学院哲学教授，译为“我这个哲学家”并无大碍。但考虑到中国读者的接受习惯，转译为“我这个研究哲学的人”，以避“自吹自擂”之嫌。

Like philosophy, jazz summons us to attend carefully to itself. Just as you shouldn’t read philosophy in a hurry, you shouldn’t listen to jazz casually – that is, if you want to find the center and get immersed in the vibe. It draws you in and keeps you there. Is the singer a little behind the beat? Did Charlie Haden play the same note through several choruses[10] on the recording, Last Dance with Keith Jarrett? It seemed odd, but fit perfectly. Of course it did. It was Charlie Haden.

爵士乐像哲学一样，要求我们专注于其自身。读哲学书不能浮光掠影，同理，听爵士乐也不能散漫随意——我是说，尤其当你想得其要义，沉浸其中，并与之产生共鸣的话。它深深吸引着你，使你难以自拔。歌手是不是没有跟上节拍？查利·黑登在专辑《最后一支舞》中为基思·贾勒特伴奏的时候，是不是在多个乐段中使用了同一个乐调？乍一听似乎很奇怪，其实完全没问题。当然没问题，因为那正是查利·黑登的风格。

[10] chorus 在爵士乐中指乐段，由多个小节构成，在演奏中可多次重复。重复时一般会即兴发挥，以避免完全重复。又称副歌等。

Further, Aristotle wrote that “Philosophy begins in wonder.” I wonder over and ponder the relation of the mind and the body, the relation of God to the world, the relation of unity and diversity (to be more abstract). When I introduced Pat Martino at Dazzle[11] recently, I quoted Aristotle and added, “Many of us wonder how Pat can play like that.” Pat tells me that his playing is “pure emotion” and comes from a higher source. On the same note[12], many of us wonder over the emotion and aspirations flaming out of John Coltrane’s music – particularly A Love Supreme. Music comes from musicians and their instruments. But is that all there is to it? Does the structure of music exist apart from its performance? Eric Dolphy was recorded as saying that the music flies off into space and is[13] no more. Was he right, or is that music retained in some sacred vault beyond our memories or recordings?

此外，亚里士多德曾写道：“哲学始于困惑。”我对意识与身体、上帝与世界，以及更为抽象的统一性与多样性之间的关系深感好奇，时常陷入沉思。我最近在丹佛的戴兹尔俱乐部向大家介绍帕特·马蒂诺的时候引述了亚里士多德的话，并且说：“我们很多人都很好奇，帕特何以能如此演奏。”帕特告诉我，他的演奏是一种“纯粹而强烈的情感”，源自更高的层次。与此类似，我们很多人同样不明白为什么约翰·克特兰的音乐——尤其是他的专辑《无上之爱》——能迸发出熊熊燃烧的强烈情感与渴望。音乐来自音乐家以及他们的乐器。但是否仅此而已？音乐的架构能否独立于演奏而存在？据记载，埃里克·杜菲曾说过，音乐一旦飞入空间，便从此消散，不复存在。但还有一种说法：音乐依然存在——既不在我们的记忆中，也不在唱片里，而是不朽于某种神圣的密室。究竟哪种说法对？

[11] 爵士乐与蓝调音乐俱乐部，位于美国科罗拉多州丹佛市。

 

[12] on the same note 同理。本义为“以同样的曲调”，基于隐喻衍生出“更多；类比；推理；并列”等义。

 

[13] =exist 存在。

Like any philosopher, I could go on, but this is an essay (a short solo), not a book. Perhaps that book needs to be written. However, I will go on listening philosophically to this philosophical music: jazz. Please join me in this performance.

像其他研究哲学的人一样，我可以继续谈下去，但这毕竟只是一篇文章，或者说“一段小小的独奏”，并不是一本书。这样的书将来或许有必要写。但现在，我要继续以哲学的耳朵来欣赏这饱含哲理的音乐——爵士乐了。请和我一起来聆听吧。

（译者单位：华北水利水电大学外国语学院；译者曾获第八届“《英语世界》杯”翻译大赛英译汉优秀奖）