Sprout Wings and Fly (1983)

If only this style of music was still appreciated. You cant get much more purity than this.

As I was saying.

Ok.  Back to my post about the journey towards musical enlightenment.  I had been playing music for a very long time with the idea in mind that I should let my fingers play the notes that came to them, without thinking about what I was playing.  I also thought it unacceptable to pre-meditate an interesting  melody in my head, prior to expressing it sonically for others to hear.  I got this musical paradigm, I think, from some jazz book that said you should practice practice practice, and then forget everything you learned.  My problem, was that for the past 6 or 7 years, I have been forgetting everything I learned, and also conveniently forgetting the practice, practice, practice aspect of this simple musical equation.  Now that I have begun to practice again, I find melodies forming inside my head well before it is time for me to play them, which gives me the chance to actually enjoy what I am playing.  There is a very similar phenomenon, (if you can call it that) in the game of chess, where it is very desirable to be at the very least one to three  moves ahead of your opponent;  in my situation with music, there is a three-way chess game  going on between very ancient foes.  They are as follows:  my old, unpracticed self ( who wants to play an unrehearsed stream of continuousness style), my new, well rehearsed, one step ahead self, and finally,  the actual song that I am playing.  But, as with chess, music, and most everything else in life that really matters,  it's not about who wins, but how you play the game.

Flatt & Scruggs / Blue Ridge Cabin Home

Bluegrass back when it was still bluegrass.

STEPHANE GRAPPELLI: "California, here I come". Live in San Francisco. 1982.

light jazz

Life is but a dream.

Chuang-tzu dreamt that he was a butterfly, fluttering here and there, care free, unaware of Chuang-tzu.  Then he woke up, and there he was again: Chuang-tzu, beyond a doubt.
But was he Chuang-tzu who had dreamt that he was a butterfly, or a butterfly now dreaming that he was Chuang-tzu?  There must be some difference between Chuang-tzu and a butterfly!  This is called "the transformation of things."

SLoth

I am too lazy to finish my last post just yet (you know, the one about art and chess and music mornings).  Its been a long day of dull movies with sharp friends( that much of my day was relaxing and enjoyable) and paying medical bills as I weave through miles and miles of bureaucratic Bull shit.  Its 1in the morning and I just now have time to start my intense dissection of jazz.  I will leave you with this.                                                                      
        
                                                           Chris Thile, Edgar Meyer

Early morning inspiration

7:30 in the morning might not be early for you, but it is a haunting time of day for me.  A witching hour, of sorts, where all is surreal, yet quietly, even calmly, true and clear.  I have realized that there is a certain magic that can be harnessed during this time before I have eaten, or taken a shower or washed my face. I have a wealth of ideas to write about right when I wake up, all unadulterated by the day's stresses and expectations.  Hopefully this revelation will prompt me to wake up early more often.   One idea that struck me this morning is the fact that I have been thinking about music in a singular, narrow minded sense for a long dime due to necessity.  Having recently gained the tools to look at it in a completely new way, I realize how many alternate  paths there are to musical enlightenment.   (this is not to say that I have even come close to musical enlightenment, I simply believe I found a more enjoyable, direct path to it).  I must go,  but more to come on this topic later  ( there will be discussion on the logic and art of Chess, stay tuned).