In the 90s I had an amazing piano teacher, who was black, and he stressed the incredible importance of learning and drilling Bach (white European) because gospel and jazz were very much influenced by church music and, specifically Bach. I never thought of this in terms of “appropriation”. I just thought it was how music and musicians have operated forever. That said, “intellectual property theft” is real and unjust, but “cultural appropriation” seems like a BS term to me.
@SpinozasHeresy @popcornreel Also I think there is usually a power dynamic at play between the cultures in question. As another white European, I can't claim that we're on the wrong end of cultural power dynamics in any real sense, so acknowledging (or not) Bach's influence is not the same as it would be for a non-white non-European artist/composer whose work is taken as influence for white Europeans (& their descendants, say in North America).
@SpinozasHeresy @popcornreel My (possibly wrong) understanding of cultural appropriation is that it involves passing off the pieces or influences as your own individual or culture's work, downplaying the originating culture's influence or not acknowledging that influence. Which is somewhat different from your teacher who actively acknowledged Bach's influence in this case (in fact that seems to be the point of his message).