I blame JAZZ and JETS

PART FOUR in a look at the the things

just WAITING to trip up a "serious" artist's path

And then joyfully putting all the onus on them

I was privileged enough to get to go and listen to the Nils Landgren Quartet at Kammermusiksaal in Berlin this week. Oh, the pain of it all, to have to listen to a consumate trombonist (my original instrument) playing and crooning so far beyond my capabilities I could cry.

I bought his albums, took them home, sat there and played them until 2 in the morning and continued my girly man cry.


The same thing happened when Take 6 came out. They took my initial musical dream of taking religious themed music and infusing them with vocal jazz. Jesus was finally gonna swing!

Before hearing Take 6 I'd had the pleasure of working alongside Gene Puerling and the Hi-Lo's, the greatest influence in vocal jazz to date (along with the sister act of the Singers Unlimited).

And what did it get me?

A belief in experimentation. And expression. And Choices, all free to make and enjoy. The Pasture, all waiting to be grazed and experienced. Sure you had a chord structure to follow, but the grass was all green.

A jazz player is given one great gift: Freedom. Freedom to interpret, to play, safety to linger and develop a phrase. Deeply personal choices are evident in each players licks. Just as you can tell the nature of an opera singer by the simple sound of their voice, you can tell the soul of the player by the modalities they use in an extended solo. It's all there if you have time to imbibe.

Opera is not Jazz. Time is more often short.

After a series of highly stimulating productions I began to come back to the real world of 'normal.' And normal opera doesn't have time to waste. Performances are arranged to maximize for most bang for your buck. After having done new productions where you spend so much time in rehearsals--often around 7 weeks of (unpaid) rehearsal time--we're tempted to make up for it and cram in as many performances as we can. Less and less of a premium is placed on …

REST.

And so the safety net needed to afford the artistic ideals of experimentation and freedom to explore gets trampled on.

I used to be afraid of Muti. He has a reputation for being tough. But lately having heard reports of people saying the Berlin Phil hasn't played so well since the days of von Karajan, I'm thinking I'll welcome the opportunities.

All I gotta do is Survive.