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Looper's Delight
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Buzap Buzap wrote: >I'm pleased to see that I've hit the nerve with this subject :-)) > >I would like to add one more thing to this comment: > > >I believe that the last sentence is only half the truth. True: It is the >artist's task to "reach the unreachable". > > OK, sorry, but my English major side is poking through here. I think you mean "It is the artist's task to "reach for the unreachable", as, by definition, one cannot reach the unreachable. Or, as a far better poet than I once said (and I fully expect the list to be inundated with people who can remember which poet it was (-8): "A man's reach must 'er exceed his grasp, or what's a heaven for?" >Howeever, if you are a _performing_ artist, the goal is different. I >believe even Miles Davis - who has been known for a certain dislike of >his audience -, when playing in a bar etc, would only be satisfied if >there would be at least one person in the audience he could reach with >his music. > > Ah, but how could he tell? His performances vastly touched me and influenced my music in so many ways, but how could he tell? I'm a jive-ass honky, and my reaction to an epiphany (which Miles delivered at several concerts) is a dumbfounded, slackjawed "let me go think about this for a millenia or so". Yeah, I was on my feet clapping, but he got that much when he simply walked on stage. And there is the question that while I can see his influence on my music, would he recognize it? And if he did recognize it, would he want to acknowledge it? (0-8 Sorry, I'm not sure what my point was. It's just that any mention of Miles Davis pushes my buttons. (-8 John McIntyre mcintyre@pa.msu.edu >So, I think as _performing_ artists, you need to be in touch both with >the "heavens/unreachable/unkown/creative force..." as well as the >ordinariy people in your audience. If you just focus on one of these two, >you will be either a bitter, unrecognized genius in his own musical world >or a plain ego booster putting his narcissistic self into display. >But playing for an audience, pleasing them, being in touch with them is - >with the right attitude and vision - not about a big ego but about a big >HEART. > >My most significant exprience on this was this: >I used to push my muscic more into complexity, speed, wild rhythms, >sophistication. Then coincidentally, I bought a live recording of >Elizabeth Cotten. She was already very old on the recording and singing >with a cracked voice. But she was a lovely woman, telling a story to her >audience and TOUCHING the hearts of people. > >http://youtube.com/watch?v=Tm5-WdB_aVE > >This has changed my musical life. >And I would always trade a [add your favorite rock/jazz/fusion virtuoso >here] solo to a simple song of hers. > >Buzap > > > > > >