The Great Benefit of Being a Music Obsessive

Well, there actually is a real benefit from being a music obsessive - the freedom to transcend the BS of life when possible. It isn't always possible since life can be horrific as human history bears out. One doesn't have to look too far - geographically or otherwise - for examples where music is the LAST thing on anyone's mind. But in those moments when we get to choose what to think and how to think about the world around us, music can provide a useful lens - an alternate reality through which to construct meaning out of the seemingly random events of life's cacophony. 

As I mentioned in the last post, the focus of this blog is going to shift beyond the classical realm to be more inclusive of the music I’m listening to and thinking about from all genres I like. Yet, the reason I’m keeping this blog as the active one is because of the classical content. Though I’ll never be a serious music scholar I do get a lot of enjoyment out of interacting with the music and learning what I can as I go along. If I discover anything useful or fun I’ll continue to pass along the vibrations as usual.

Every so often I do get a little sense of being on the right track – or at least having my feelings about the music reinforced from those more eloquent than I. One of my favorite music books is The Rest Is Noise by Alex Ross – a truly eye-opening and ear-opening work. Ross is a writer of exceptional talent, perception and vision. He is a contributing writer to several periodicals including The New Yorker. Last year I had the pleasure of discovering an article he’d written about appreciating Brahms in times of loss and life’s difficulties. Here is a link to that article:

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/grieving-with-brahms

In a short essay, Ross manages to put into words the way I’ve found myself reacting to Brahms since I began listening more seriously years ago. I'd even read the complaints about Brahms and thought "Is there something wrong with me?" Ha! Not that I needed Ross to legitimize my enjoyment - I just really appreciate his usually brilliant insights and scholarship. 

I immediately took to Brahms 3rd and 4th Symphonies years ago. These days I'm developing an appreciation for his 1st and 2nd Symphonies. I pulled out this Solti / CSO box to give the 1st a spin. I forgot how jarring and pessimistic the opening was - yikes! But it all gets resolved in the 3rd and 4th movements where really beautiful stuff emerges. 

I had a similar reaction to this Piano Concerto No. 2 record:

A lot of pyrotechnics in the first two movements, but the 3rd movement is where this piece really came to life for me - really beautiful music! I'd have to do some reading up on Brahms as a composer to figure out if my impressions about his intentions are what I suspect. Won't pursue that idea any further now until I do. Need to dedicate some more time to listening and studying up on Brahms. Ahhh - dedication..........

For those really dedicated, there are multiple pathways as usual. Like it or not, Charles Ives sold insurance. That was his day job. Is his art any less valid? Robbie Basho was a stock clerk at times. The guys in The Minutemen organized their tours around their day jobs. Gotta hustle to survive, as always. Which coincidentally is the title of this great Les McCann album from 1975. Atlantic Records was about to shift focus away from the more straight ahead jazz to more commercial crossover stuff which suited Les McCann since he had hits like Compared to What. 

This was his second to last LP for Atlantic. Jazz was going through changes and so too was the music business in general.  As a company, Atlantic became part of the WEA group as a result of a merger and the focus went to rock groups like Led Zeppelin. Many of the jazz artists, if they didn't have soul crossover hits, were being phased out. Even if they DID have hits like Les McCann. 1976 would be the end of Atlantic's jazz roster as it had been. Other labels would try to absorb the cast off artists - McCann went to ABC while others went to Warners or A&M. The attempts of those companies to support jazz artists would be short lived as the late 70s yielded to disco and eventually the origins of rap and hip hop. 

So all of this buzzes around my mind when I listen to Les McCann's last few Atlantic records. The very last album is really wonderful - River High River Low. 

Both are reflective of the end of an era - in a business sense and on a cultural level. These changes happen so quickly - even in the business world. Companies rise and fall. What might appear to be fixed and stable is more often an illusion.  I was a young boy when this music was new and though my memories of those days are preserved in flashes and moments I can relate to the feelings. The country felt different then - not so polarized, or so it seems. Hard to know since I was a kid in the 70s. But considering the events of Watergate - as damaging as that was (or should have been) - life went on. Perhaps what we were missing was a glorification of bad behavior in the culture.  The closest thing may have been the reckless rock stars behavior, but it was widely understood most folks would never get away with Keith Moon type antics in the everyday world. 

Digressions aside, there are still plenty of unexplored musical horizons out there to discover. I know it's probably old news by now, but the most recent Pharoah Sanders collaboration with electronic artist Floating Points and the London Symphony Orchestra is one of the best things I've heard in a long time!

Although I eventually wound up with this on vinyl I first heard it via youtube when it popped up as part of the algorithm of my searches there. I didn't know if it was new, old or what. The day I first heard the music (most of it) wound up being indelibly linked to a very significant event - the day my wife went to the hospital to deliver our son! Pharoah Sanders has been a favorite of mine for many years so it knocked me out to know he had this wonderful new music available. (I did not name my son  Pharoah, however....)  So, many thanks to these great musicians for providing a stunning soundtrack to a joyous moment!

 Collaborations are more commonly found outside the classical realm perhaps due to the tradition of who composers are - how they've been defined. Fritz Reiner was not considered a collaborator of Strauss or Rimsky-Korsakoff. Hendrix did not exactly collaborate with Noel Redding. Yet, the process of bringing music into being does involve way more than the work of the composer. Bill Bruford recently offered his thoughts about the relationships between technologies, musicians and how their roles have influenced the process of music making into current times. His essay contains words of caution, but with specific solutions to recommend. Check out this worthwhile read here:

https://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/absent-without-leave

 I hope to return to the themes he brings up, since I noticed a pattern of thinking similar to ideas expressed by Van Dyke Parks and others on the topic.  To be fair, Bill uses the term "interactive" music though I think he is on the path towards collaboration. In his doctoral thesis he poses the question - to what degree are contributing musicians responsible for the outcome of any given piece of music above and beyond the composer? 

Speaking of Van Dyke Parks, I have been exploring an unusual offering of his from around 2005 or so - Super Chief!

The music was composed for films - which and how many I don't know. It is a purely instrumental album featuring orchestral music as only Van Dyke Parks can create. The ensemble reminds me of an expanded version of the kind of musicians used on the 1995 release Orange Crate Art. I don't have any other Van Dyke Parks albums to reference though I'm sure that will change. Super Chief is way more complex than average movie music. I'm still exploring its mysteries. 

And that is the major takeaway - the exploring of the unknown and mysterious. There is another entry in the pipeline that will pick up where this one leaves off. In the meantime - keep the circles spinning and the ears open!