Some months back, for the first time, I heard pianist McCoy Turner's take on Speak Low, a Kurt Weill standard many jazz musicians play. Listening carefully to Tyner's amazing interpretation, I began analyzing my tepid version of this tune, one I've played steadily for several years. The journal entry I wrote not long after finishing my analysis oozed self-pity. Not my best moment.
Fast forward to a recent conversation with an ex-guitar teacher. When I shared how discouraging it can sometimes be to listen to someone with the speed and superhuman technique of Tyner or guitarist Joe Pass, he reminded me of the days when Miles Davis shared a stage with Charlie "Bird" Parker. What if Miles - my old friend asked me - had allowed himself to be discouraged by Bird's prodigious gifts? Think - he coached me - of what the world would have missed if Miles hadn't used what he learned playing alongside Bird as a path toward finding his own musical voice.
I've been searching for my voice on the guitar most of my adult life. And I'm grateful for those fleeting moments when it feels like I'm getting close, especially if I'm improvising at the time. But I decided long ago that it's unwise abbreviating and calling myself a jazz guitarist. I'm a guitarist who has studied and enjoys jazz, likes to improvise, and favors tunes from the Great American Songbook and jazz standards. It's a much longer explanation but a far more accurate one. Joe Pass, Wes Montgomery, and Pat Metheny are jazz guitarists. And so is that ex-teacher of mine who reminded me recently to keep searching for my voice and remember that speed is just one element, and sometimes not the most important one.
Hi Pat, I enjoyed reading this post and Iidentified with it wholly. I often tell people I’m a jazz guitarist when they ask what I do for a living, but I agree with you. I cringe a little bit when I say it. I enjoy hearing your insight about the thinking of a jazz musician.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous; Thanks for the comment. As for my "insight about the thinking of a jazz musician", I'd be more comfortable putting "aspiring" in front of "jazz" in that phrase.
DeletePat, you are an extremely talented guitarist who expresses himself through many different styles. Many musicians have not synthesized the various influences you have into one individual.And that defines you as an artist. That’s something to be very proud of, Not many people reach goals you have attained, and in my mind, that’s a very special achievement.
ReplyDeletePeter; Thanks for the comment; good to see you back in Patstan. Bigger thanks for the kind and encouraging words.
DeleteYour last line reminded me of the phrase I use frequently in dance: "speed is the illusion of mastery."
ReplyDeleteInes; Thanks for the quote - it's going directly into my notebook.
DeleteI am not a musician and have zero musical talent, but I love listening to music. When it comes to jazz, I find that listening to some of the greats like Charlie Parker or Thelonious Monk is not pleasing. I understand that the technical virtuosity of these artists is amazing, but the music doesn't move me and ultimately feels like the musician is just showing off. I am a writer and I can be very clever with words, but being clever is meaningless when you're trying to create a character or tell a story if that cleverness calls attention to itself. The same is true for using big words. If the writer keeps using words the reader doesn't know, all he or she accomplishes is to take reader out of the story for a moment as the reader either goes and looks up the word or reminds himself how very smart the writer. I believe the writer needs to DISAPPEAR when telling a story; otherwise, he's simply saying, "Look at me. Look at me." That's what Thomas Pynchon, whom you've written about before, does in virtually anything he writes, or, say, much of William Faulkner or James Joyce in FINNEGAN'S WAKE. For me, these works are like watching Phillipe Petit dance on a high wire. Okay, he can perform an amazing balancing act, something I couldn't pretend to do no matter how hard I tried. But after a while, So what?
ReplyDeleteJim; Thanks for the thought you put into this well-considered comment. The parallel you draw between musicians who can dazzle others with their superhuman technique (like Bird) and authors whose writing sometimes says "Look at me" (like Pynchon) strikes me as an apt one.
DeleteWhen I hear artists comparing themselves to others--which has to happen, I suppose, I think of the great Sonnet 29 by Shakespeare. He is all alone beweeping his outcast state, looking at himself, cursing his fate, "desiring this man's art and that man's scope." This is Shakespeare ! Wishing he could produce work like this one or that one. I think it's part of "the war of art" we can't avoid it. Yeats does it too and so does probably every artist known to man.
ReplyDeleteRegina; Thanks for the comment. I especially appreciate the reference to the Shakespeare sonnet, one I was unfamiliar with. I guess if Bill had similar thoughts - even occasionally - I can forgive myself for wallowing in self-pity from time-to-time.
DeletePat, this was a very well thought out self assessment...realistic and honest, without being self deprecating, and recognizing all the hard work you have put in and progress you have made over the course of many years of dedicated study and practice. I love how you responded to your teacher's insight.
ReplyDeleteKim; Thanks for the comment and telling me I avoided too much self-deprecation. You know better than anyone by far how much time I've devoted to that infernal instrument so this comment carries a lot of weight for me.
DeleteHey Pat. Allow me to add my voice to those who enjoy Jazz. Still in my infancy stage at learning guitar, I would never say much more than what I consider my level to be at this point - and usually reserve that comment to saying it silently to myself. But, I am enjoying the trip as I try my best to learn as much as I can and try not to rush things. I will never achieve the level that you have reached - if for no other reason - and believe me there are many (lol) - then I started way later in life. However, I have no doubt that you have found your voice already and are looking to add to it. Funny that you mentioned the Charlie Parker/Miles Davis story. I recall an instructor, and great Jazz Guitarist, telling a story in one of his classes about sax players who tossed their instruments after hearing 'Bird' play knowing that they would never reach that level of greatness, so why bother. But, as I said earlier, and I believe to your point, it's not much the destination as much as it is the journey getting there.
ReplyDeleteBe well,
Bob
Bob; Thanks (again) for your continued support of my blog. BTW, that anecdote about Bird is based on reality. But, as my ex-guitar teacher helped me better see, Miles didn't allow Bird's superhuman technique deter him from finding his musical voice, so I'm working hard at not letting the speed and technique of guitarists like Joe Pass deter me either. Wish me luck.
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