“The world is a hard place. Is, was, and will always be. But armed with that knowledge, you can still find a million ways to make people feel good about waht we’re all out here doing together. Could just be saying good morning or thank you, or looking somebody in their eyes. I don’t need what you hate. Give me what you love. And if that costs you too much, at least give me what you like…
As you step out of the shower and attempt on yet another night ot avoid burning your suit with yet another defective hotel iron, you feel the beginning of a change, a little like a change of weather or season, except this change is internal. It is the feeling of something impending, like your first spanking, or first day of school. Or kiss. Then as you don your almost well-pressed suit you realize tonight is the only night you will play in front of this particular group of people. So, in a way, each concert is also like an initiation or some other one-time ceremony. That is why the intensity of this feeling is the same in Lewisburg, West Virginia’s Carnegie Hall and New York City’s Carnegie Hall. You drive past the hall, see people coming in, see the hip and hte unhip, and the wannabe-made hipsters. See the couples in elegant dress, the old people and the young, the fine, the refined, and the granulated. Band directors with their students. People named Gene, or Mary. Alphonse. Ralph. Even Nathan. And you realize that you’ve been given the opportunity to bring happiness to people, provoke thought, evoke sorrow, or convey something beautiful that adds to someone’s life.This is what I love.”
- Wynton Marsalis, from his book w/ Carl Vigeland ‘jazz in the bittersweet blues of life’.
Wow. What a beautiful passage. I had to cut it short, but I strongly recommend you pick up that book or any other writing on music done by Mr. Marsalis.
I’ve been reading up quite a bit lately on Marsalis and Sinatra, two of the people that I have found most inspiring and influential. I want to be them. I do not mean that in some arrogant, awe-struck way, like I think I could come close to being Wynton Marsalis or Frank Sinatra. I want to be like them in other ways.
I want to live out the things that I love and be uncompromising in my passions. I want to entirely devote myself to the beauty of the music that inspires me instead of worrying about the quality of my talent or how I ‘stack up’. These things do not matter. It is only important that you do what you love with reckless abandon and appreciate the passion of those around you as well.
Wynton Marsalis continues to be a steady influence on me. He is controversial in just the right way. He is controversial because he sticks by his gut and intuition, not because he craves the attention of being a controversy. I’m sure there are those that would strongly disagree with me, but I’m not trying to get into the man’s political problems within the world of jazz. I simply admire the conviction behind the things that he says. It’s as if he doesn’t care whatsoever if you have a problem with his opinions or his work.
I am inspired also by his blending of the classical and jazz genres into one beautiful, American art form. It is the niche that I wish to carve for myself as time goes by.
That’s all I’ve got for this week.
FYI, tickets for my ‘Home for the Holidays’ concert go on sale next Monday, October 17th through the Civic Center box office or through ticket master. The show will be December 15th-18th at the Temple Theater. Shows on the 15th, 16th, and 17th will start at 7:30, while the show on Sunday the 18th will be a 3:00 matinee. I hope that you can make it. Thanks as always for staying in touch!
Feel free to send thoughts my way via my facebook music page or email ( max(at)maxwellmanmusic(dot)com ).