The 5th Texas Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday that a Dallas judge didn't have jurisdiction to grant a divorce to two Dallas men who wed in Massachusetts. The court also says Texas' same-sex marriage ban is constitutional.

The state attorney general had appealed the district judge's October ruling that granted the men a divorce and found the ban violates equal rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution.

The Dallas men married in 2006 in Massachusetts and separated two years later. They're referred to only as J.B. and H.B. in court filings.

An attorney for J.B. says they haven't decided whether to appeal to the Texas Supreme Court.

Jazz Musician

Collaborates With Birds

and Whales

Ask just about any musician, and they'll tell you that their craft is a universal language. A Beethoven sonata is a Beethoven sonata in Greek, Turkish, English, or Swahili. You can walk on stage in a jazz club anywhere in the world and sit in with the house band. Music transcends language; it fosters understanding between cultures that are often separated by language and custom.

But can it also bring us closer to the animal kingdom? David Rothenberg thinks so.

Rothenberg is a professor of music and philosophy at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, and the author of a number of books, including Why Birds Sing and Thousand Mile Song. He's also an accomplished jazz clarinetist. His big idea? Not only can human beings use the animal kingdom's music to gain a greater understanding of the natural world, we can even make music with them. According to Rothenberg, music not only transcends language, it transcends species itself.

Case in point: Rothenberg's 2005 cd, also titled Why Birds Sing. It's more than just sampled bird songs over a studio track — it's an actual collaboration, humans and birds playing and singing together in zoos and forests. Rothenberg suggests that the birds he records with listen and respond to the human musicians. It's an interspecies jam session of sorts.

While the idea of human/animal music is nothing new, Rothenberg may be the first to tie together the threads of philosophy, musicology, and science, and examine animal songs through a serious philosophical lens. As Rothenberg explains it:

Maybe, using music, we can reach across into the mind and the aesthetics and arts of a whole other kind of being, and have some kind of communication happen that is meaningful, in this mysterious way that music is meaningful.

The key word is "communication," implying a conversation. And, in Rothenberg's mind, that's just what's happening. The music is collaborative, and the birds (or whales on another recording) are treated as fellow musicians, not merely part of the music or an extra track to add color and texture.

As to the music itself, I'm not here to tell you what's good and what isn't — that's up to your aesthetic sense. It tends to be experimental-sounding, ranging from the traditional analog-sounding flute and clarinet to electronic sounds. You won't find as much of the formal musical structure that you might be used to. It's worth a listen and Sierra Club radio has a recent episode with some of the music, as well as an interview with Rothenberg.

Whether the music itself is interesting or not is subjective, but there's no question that the philosophy behind Rothenberg's work is fascinating.

Martin Matheny Martin Matheny is a political consultant and animal welfare writer based in Athens, GA
Photo credit: Wouter de Bruijn

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Jazz Musician

Collaborates With Birds

and Whales