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SUN
07.05.98
listening to the past
i've been thinking lately about the music I listen to in my leisure. Actually to me, I don't really listen to music in a leisurely way. It is a fun experience and very enjoyable experience, just like any music lover. But to me music is also a mystical experience and I see that when I perform music with a band, it really and truly goes beyond the notes and the printed page. I guess there comes an attitude where you have to believe the music is mystical and magical in order for it to become truly inspiring, and the audience gets something out of the performances. Well, that is my new thing, getting back to listening to music a little more seriously. For me that means going back into the archives of musical experience from its very beginnings all the way up to the current musical stylings. And there's an awful lot of music out there. I personally enjoy very much listening to music of the past. I believe there's music out there that has been done which needs to be discovered by the music listener. Swing for example has a multitude of recordings that could be researched and "discovered". To me, that's the same thing as discovering the latest recording done in 1998. I guess for me, I don't distinguish the difference between old and new recordings, for if the listener perceives a musical recording for the first time, regardless of whether it's an old or new recording, it is a brand new experience to the listener. That's why I feel a lot of the younger audiences really dig the swing scene and its music. I mean, swing is really a very profound style of music and the musicians back then were totally consummate, knowledgable musicians. They "knew their stuff" and I think this style of music is very new and refreshing to the current younger generation. I'm really happy that it's come back full circle because I truly enjoy playing jazz music and I'm given the opportunity to express myself in a jazz sense, yet still perform in a popular sort of way as opposed to performing jazz in an esoteric sense, where not everyone would pick up on or appreciate the more esoteric forms of jazz. I'm feeling good today actually. In the past few weeks it's been very busy performing with the band. It tends to be a challenge keeping the music fresh and alive, especially if you're performing the same music day in, day out. So, the idea is to keep it fresh and change it differently every time, or change your perspective or attitude toward the music each time. I've thought about my crying spells. I really can't explain it, but I'd once-in-awhile find myself crying for no reason at all. My only explanation for this is that when I perform with the band I get my adrenaline pumping and I get to that place in which I try to perform to the best of my abilities. But then when I come down off of that performance "rush" I go through some sort of adrenaline withdrawal. I find myself suddenly overcome with emotion that I can't contain, so I have to vent it out somehow, so I end up going through these crying spells. I don't really think there's anything wrong. I just think it's my way of adjusting from sensory overload. I know I do feel much better afterwards. My right knee became sore again last night during the last (third) set of our gig at the Kensington Club. It's feeling better today since I've rested it overnight. Last night at the Kensington Club I was the very last band member there. While I finished loading my drums I was approached by this young woman who was obviously intoxicated from alcohol or something. Anyway, Jim was there and on his way out when this young woman was asking for a ride. I guess she was drunk and needed a cab. She couldn't get one for some reason and so she asked me for a ride home. Well, I consider myself a nice person and I try to go out of my way to help people, but this was definitely a tough one. It was late, I was tired. The direction this lady was asking me to go was the opposite direction of my usually way home, so I'd really have to go out of my way in order to take her home. Well, I had to "make the call", so I told her in a nice way that I just couldn't take her home. I mean this woman was a complete stranger and I wasn't sure if she was also trying to "pick me up" or what. I ended up just driving away. It had been a long day for me and I needed to get some rest... Albums Listened To Today:
Frank Sinatra - September Of My Years Keith Jarrett - The Paris Concert Rush - Moving Pictures
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