stop! rodgers & hammerstein time!

i've got one of those peel-a-day calendars.  it has the date, a new word (that i wonder if i will ever use), a blurb about some historical event, assorted celebrity birthdays (yesterday was drew barrymore and steve irwin), a brainteaser that i usually think is way too hard, and a thought-provoking quote.

yesterday's quote comes from some guy named publius syrus.  i have never heard of this joker, so i dialed up my friends over at wikipedia to get the scoop.  (i don't actually have any friends associated with wikipedia, but certainly recognize them as the most credible online source these days...)  as it turns out, he is a latin writer of pithy observations on life. a freed roman slave, he also worked as a mime and an improvising writer during 1st century bc.  he is credited with a slew of famous quotes, including "familiarity breeds contempt" and "it is better to learn late than never".

the line for inspiration today was "the remedy for wrongs is to forget them".  i use this notion as a primary mantra when practicing improvisation.  sure, you're gonna screw up - but us listeners want to know how you will incorporate that misstep towards successful thematic development. miles davis made a career out of this, and many are modeling their careers after miles' "mistakes".

many young improvisers get hung up on (knowingly) missing a chord change, and allow their frustration to alter the flow of their creative stream.  most don't function like that in real life.  quit reading the book after the first word you don't know?  stop eating your fries after biting into a limp one? toss the wii remote after you immediately wreck while playing mario kart?  put on a hat at the first inclination that your hair won't cooperate?  (fyi - i don't read much, like droopy fries, suck at mario kart, and am wearing a hat as i type.)

when god closes a door, he opens a window.  be 2 legit 2 quit. and count me as the first to use references from the sound of music and mc hammer to explain important principles in the creative process.

fat guy in a little coat

i was thumbing through a chris farley book in wal-mart the other night and came across an anecdote from al franken who, before becoming a hot-button senator, was a writer and actor on saturday night live.  he spoke of the period when farley was on the scene, along with rob schneider and adam sandler.  all brilliant comics in their own right, franken noted that these guys would often go off script. their continued interest in straying from the written material frustrated franken, but he mentioned (and i'm paraphrasing since i don't have the book in my hands at the moment) that it was probably less about their disinterest in his sketch and more about how it was time for him to leave the show.

i think of this idea time and again when i'm dealing with creative music.  i want the stuff that i write to take on a certain persona, and i struggle with the desire to micro-manage.  i want the tunes that i help arrange for my students to go a certain way, and the music that i rehearse with them to sound like i intend it to. the balancing act i have found (which is a work still in progress) requires me to be extremely clear and credible with my instructions and/or playing while allowing others to contribute their strengths to the collective.  it's about trust and good judgment.

now, at the same time ... i want the players i work alongside to be able to contribute their artistic strengths at full throttle.  i am leery about stifling creativity, for fear that i may get an apathetic effort or, worse yet, negative return. if i distinguish another's artistic flame too early, maybe i'm missing out on exciting creative output or a moment of inspiration.  i try to to know each musician that i work with - what they are capable of doing, what sparks their inventiveness, what pushes them beyond their box.

how did al franken know it was time for him to exit stage left?  was it a lack of patience with the budding comic geniuses?  did he recognize that maybe he was no longer at the cusp of new comedic concepts?  i remember thinking that i was helping spearhead new movements in improvised music, and then was introduced to recordings of artists doing many years ago what i was currently discovering.  in fact - i have been embarrassingly victimized by my own naivety multiple times.

i have decided to stick with my own sound concepts and personalized approaches to creative improvisation.  i have one ear in my own thing (to better understand what i'm trying to do), another ear in the new stuff (trying to keep up with the joneses) and yet another ear in the music of past masters.  i know - i need more ears, right?  if i keep jumping around between the musical flavor of the month, i am certain that i'll never codify my own musical language and identifiable style.  so, i'm sticking to my guns - come hell or high water.

a magnet in my office

and while i'm thinking of it - some of my favorite snl characters from the treacherous three:

* farley dancing with patrick swayze

* sandler singing arias as opera man

* schneider making copies with stingarino

* farley reviewing restaurants for zagats

* sandler as bryan from the denise show