What do you expect to hear when someone says “American music?” Judith Lang Zaimont, Composer

Judith Lang Zaimont Photo courtesy Judith Lang Zaimont

What is ‘American music’?

1. It reflects the vital, energized, young and action-oriented nation we are.
   In general it’s color-sensitive, edgy and, more often than not, pulsed — wickedly pulsed. It likes to take chances, and, as befits our polyglot national character, sometimes incorporates a staggering variety of modes of expression.
2. In a very real sense, it is the lifeblood of our country expressed in sound.
3. Any/all music written or improvised by Americans.