January 25, 2001
Thursday
"To me living and music are all the same thing.
And I keep finding out more about music as I learn more about myself, my environment, about all kinds of different things in life.
I play what I live.
Therefore, just as I can't predict what kinds of experiences I'm going to have, I can't predict the directions in which my music will go.
I just want to write and play my instrument as I feel." -- McCoy Tyner
ever listen to jazz? then i'm sure you've heard of john coltrane...now if you've heard of coltrane, i'm sure you know of the john coltrane quartet. ok. now we're on a roll. see, mccoy tyner (above quote) was the pianist for the john coltrane quartet. and guess who i got to see perform last night?
McCoy Tyner! (john coltrane past away a while ago...)...mccoy tyner is like in his mid sixties now...
anyway, we went to yoshi's last night to see the show - it was mccoy tyner on piano but he played with a band (trumpet, sax, bass and drums) and IT WAS AWESOME. it felt like we were there for 30 minutes but it turned out the the show was an hour and forty five minutes...
i can't even begin to explain how beautiful it is to see jazz performers - to a certain extent, it's pretty much improv...and it's just totally amazing!!! i mean they play these instruments not just to PLAY them. but it's an extension of their soul, their personality....they express who they are through their music and it's just amazing to watch. there was this ballad piece by the trumpet and it seriously was sooo beautiful. with each note he wailed i felt myself being swayed along...i was dragged with each note...ugh...and then the bass player!!!! he was slapping and just going buck wild...and the drummer...i don't even know what to say he was so fun to watch...and the sax was a cool cat...haha...i can't explain in words...anyways...i must sound like a retard. but someone said to me that jazz was kind of hard to listen to...i'm not sure why but i guess maybe it is. i can see how that could be...
but i love jazz/blues. it's so relaxing and...i guess it's also clean. (i don't turn it off when someone i don't really know comes into my apartment, whereas when i listen to my eminem cd, i'll usually stop it) i've been playing jazz nonstop since yesterday. you know who's voice is really beautiful? ella fitzgerald. it's just really pretty. (i suggest you get your hands on some fitzgerald and armstrong duets...they're really nice)
Ahhh! i wish i could play piano and drums like they did last night...it was funny cause as we were leaving i was saying that i'm gonna force my kids to play piano and all these other instruments and expose them to lots of jazz and classical music...but the point was made that no jazz/blues/classical master got there cause their mama told them they had to practice....it was because they loved it and wanted it, you know?
now i really really really really want to learn blues guitar. no one i know knows how to. anyone wanna teach me out there? haha...for some reason i'm pretty sure most korean guys don't really play blues guitar...more like praise songs, huh? well i know first of all i need to get better at guitar...oh well....
next week stanley clarke and al foster are gonna be playing with mccoy tyner. OH HOW I WISH I COULD GO! but each ticket is $26 and since i already went last night...i'm sure there will be more opportunities to see other types of jazz performances though...you know what? for all you graduating seniors out there who like jazz, if you're gonna be leaving berkeley after may i suggest you check out yoshi's...
wasn't it raining so hard today?
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