Reader to Reader

The writers criticizing Robert Hilburn’s stance on rap (Saturday Letters, June 24) are forgetting two things. First, most cutting-edge music of the rock era, be it Elvis, Dylan or the so-called Boss, challenges the establishment. Questioning authority is supposed to be an ongoing thing, not just something that’s OK for you to do when you’re young.

And, second, if you don’t like rap, and I certainly don’t, then just don’t listen to it. In America, we’re not supposed to be telling other people what they can’t hear. Or watch. Or read.

MICHAEL HELWIG

Canoga Park

It seems not a week goes by that I don’t read a letter denigrating rap music. I wonder if these self-proclaimed music critics realize that the real reason they cannot stand this new art form is the exact same reason earlier generations could not stomach jazz and rock ‘n’ roll music: fear of young people in general and of young African Americans in particular.

BRENT TONICK

Simi Valley

As cafe manager for the Jazz Bakery, I agree with Lee Cohen that the information on jazz is already out there in print, on radio and on the Internet (Saturday Letters, June 24). The problem is that the audience is stuck on the freeway. For most people, getting home is battle enough. When you can’t know if a trip is going to be 30 minutes or three hours, you tend to stay put.

We present musicians of world-class talent, who fill the house in New York, to often sparse attendance. It isn’t that the potential audience is uninformed. It’s just too darned hard to get around!

JIM WALSH

Los Angeles

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