Kontekst: #13 / Henry Flynt w/ Janina Skrzypek

Henry Flynt is a philosopher, musician, anti-art activist and exhibited artist, whom unsympathetic reviewers often link to Fluxus. his music didn’t see commercial release until the twenty-first century, because of his music purposes, which were hopelessly out of step with what the market was rewarding. He also rejected the claim of cultural superiority which musicology made for European classical music; defining his purpose:
‘I intensify and elevate the American ethnic musics to produce a sophisticated music whose nearest correlative would be Hindustani music. [..] From the start, I wanted to open up blues and country music for forward-sweeping melodic improvisation. I often eliminate chord progressions in my music, because I experience changes of root like stoplights on a highway. Instead, I employ tonic pedal-point harmony. Then, I treat the melodic modalities of blues and country music literally as ragas, with extensive use of glissando and melodic ornamentation.’