Dr. Ysaye Maria Barnwell

“In traditional Africa, you cannot live without the music, the rhythms. They accompany every area of life. Without them, there are no living activities.” Ysaye Maria Barnwell, March 6, 2009.

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Actually she said a lot more about communal singing and its significance. Don’t worry … more to come *smile*

This evening, I went to a concert of improvised instrumental music at a venue I’ve been trying to explore since October.

Homewood Studios hosts Improvised Music at its gallery the second Monday of every other month. (Those of you familiar with the ups and downs of my schedule know why it’s taken me 5 months to get to one of their events!)

As I arrived, gallery owner George Roberts greeted me with quiet excitement asking “Who do you know?” I fessed up to not knowing anyone and admitted that “I came for the improv.” Roberts couldn’t have been more pleased (or pleasant!). He introduced me to Milo Fine the improv coordinator (can there be such a thing?) and one of the performers for the evening.

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Fine kindly told me that they would start and play straight through, so I should feel free to get up, step outside (even visit the restroom if needed). In other words, this wasn’t one of those performer-audience type things. A few minutes later the quartet — consisting of drums, two synths, horns, saxophone (and some vocals!) — took flight and remained airborne for the next two hours.

A lot of energy, information and music was exchanged during that time and when it ended, I felt slightly shell-shocked, more than a little intoxicated and extremely glad to relinquish my seat on Homewood’s metal folding chair.

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Lessons and Ruminations

• Drummer Davu Seru’s mannerisms while playing are uncannily like my brother when he plays. (Seriously, I apologized to Seru for staring at him throughout the performance.)
• Horn player Scott Newell gets some of his inspirations for the improvised pieces from complex graphical scores he writes. He kindly walked me through a short tour of the scores that influenced this evening’s music.
• From Jason Shapiro, “I did some of my best non-playing tonight.” In other words, sometimes choosing not to play is just what the music needs. (Amen, Jason, amen! A tricky, yet invaluable lesson to learn.)
• Fine gave me two vocal recordings to look up – Patty Waters Sings and … um … (uh oh, something about a singer who worked with Herbie Mann?)
• George Roberts has created an improvisational writing process around the improv nights. Throughout the performance, he notes the time and free writes. Lucky for us, he posts these writings online.
• There’s a reason I’m a vocalist. I found myself unable to imagine having to express my improvisational impulses through any other instrument. For me, a translation process would be necessary (first, have idea; next, play instrument) and something would be lost. That didn’t seem true for any of these gentlemen. Watching each of them interact with his instrument(s) was as gratifying as listening.

It was an evening of complex, moving and innovative music with a little less melodic content than my singing self is used to. At times, listening was hard work. (I can only imagine how hard the musicians were working!) But when Fine and I started talking about how observation and participants (and the weather!) affect and change improvised music. (i.e. how my absence would have made what they played different) — I knew I was in the right place.

Like I said, I came for the improv.

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I know some of you are waiting for my post about the workshops I attended this weekend with Sweet Honey in the Rock’s Ysaye Barnwell and Aisha Kalil. Don’t worry, I’ll post on the concert and the workshops later this week.

I don’t know about you, but I have a lot of friends going through lots of stuff right now. Or should I say STUFF?

Financial woes, serious illnesses, the blues, the blahs … not to mention cabin fever. We live in Minnesota** and it just snowed AGAIN! (Although, I guess to be fair, some people are excited about that?) I’ve spent more than a few hours in the past months vegged out in front of the computer instead of working. (Hence last week’s post about discipline (c;)

One of the things I have to remind myself to do when the world starts to seem like it’s out to get me (and everyone I know) is to listen to music. I send music to friends and family going through STUFF. My music, other people’s music — it doesn’t matter – it’s the message, the mood, the meaning that’s important.

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Here are some songs that almost always make my playlists. If you’re grappling with STUFF (or just stuff – *smile*), they might be the perfect prescription.

• I Am Sending You Light – Melanie DeMore
• All That You Have is Your Soul – Tracy Chapman
• A Bridge Over Troubled Waters – Simon and Garfunkel (but also Eva Cassidy)
• Cry (If You Want To) – Holly Cole
• God Bless the Child – Billie Holiday (and me, of course)
• Going Home – Ulali
• I Shall Be Released – Bob Dylan (but also Nina Simone)
• Now Touch the Air Softly – Peter Mayer
• Stay With You – Jon Legend
• The World Exploded into Love – Bob Schneider
• You’ve Got a Friend – Carole King (and also James Taylor)

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**If you’re in or near the Twin Cities, the next Songtaneous is this Saturday, March 7.  Visit my Events page for more info.