I forgot why I was doing this
September 06 2010
Musicians make music. Why? Because we love to make music.
But in doing what it takes to make music- in doing the business of music (see Pianobabbler 118)-we sometimes lose sight of that love.
This is a blogtale lovepost on rekindling the romantic flame of music's wild passion.
The Pianobabbler had lunch the other day with a music-loving, smart, sharp, wit-filled, best-of-England and all that English diplomat. Call him Ainsley.
Ainsley loves music like a bull in Spring fancies a milkcow. Libidinous would best describe the attraction. Pat Metheny induces a particularly enrapturing arousal.
As a diplomat, Ainsley meets and spends time with musicians, musicians, musicians of all styles. All ages. Places. Stages of renown.
Cecilia Bartoli. Peter Gabriel. Sting. Brian Eno. Kiri Te Kanawa. Many others.They came up and weren't dropped down, the names.
Ainsley's adoration of music infused our dialogue. It drenched a white canvass with rubicund energy. The music spirit shuttled back and forth between us in our language, as the names rolled off the tongue. Ron Sexsmith. Paul Watkins. Lorin Maazel. Kathleen Battle.
As I sat in the bounteous atmosphere of music names and enthusiasm, a feeling of reacquaintance overtook me. Those people Ainsley and I were discussing are colleagues. Those events he was describing, gigs like mine. Different in detail, but identical in substance.
My awareness expanded to my own work as a musician. The musical agape our talk was generating triggered in me this reminder: what I do can have this effect on others, and I do what I do because it had, and still has, this effect on me.
I was reminded that when I play music, whatever my heady intellect may be up to (see Pianobabbler 103), the spirit sits in a joyous ecstasy. Ecstasy- from the word ecstasis, a term used by and applied to one of my musical gurus Glenn Gould (see Denis Dutton's article on this.)
Booking gigs. Arranging rehearsals. Travelling. Corresponding. Billing. Researching. Practising. Business. Business.
Business can cast an obscuring shadow over music and obnubilate its joy. Gravity pulls the musician to the centre, away from the ecstasis.
Working musicians like the Pianobabbler must make it part of the work to remember the joy. If we lose sight of it, the music suffers. We end up serving music from the central warehouse, not from the spirit's limits. May as well serve food from Central Canning, instead of your own kitchen.
So thank you Ainsley. Thank you for your non-musician's musical joie. It dethawed this musician's one.
K'naan. A Canadian musician of Somali origin, K'naan brings a new voice- aurally and conceptually -to popular music. He is enjoying international success. Deservedly.
In today's news one reads that K'naan issued a public apology for a show in Ireland. In his words: "In all my years of touring, today marks the 1st time I've played an entire concert w/out feeling a thing. Just going through the motions, [...] I don't wanna be like this. Like 1 of those artists." (See the full CBC report.)
Such integrity. Such honesty. Bravo K'naan.
If only, before this sad event, you had been given the opportunity to talk to Ainsley.
The Pianobabbler has babbled.
The Pianobabbler is a RonDavisMusic production. The Pianobabbler's blog posts appear weekly at pianobabbler.com. Please remember to leave your comments and thoughts below. Subscribe to the RSS feed. And subscribe to RonDavisNews by clicking on the link, above right. And follow us on Twitter.
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