Dave Grusin’s stellar career in musicianship and composition from television to movies to rock stars to his over 70 CDs and so many other accomplishments is stunning. He’s won an Oscar, ten Grammys, and written scads of soundtracks.
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And here he is at 90 years old touring with Lee Ritenour (an accomplished musician, composer, jazz guitarist himself!) through California and then on to Japan! Remarkable!
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grusinfilm.com
Buddy Guy at 88 is also performing and touring. A pivot and ground-breaking blues musician since he started playing at clubs as a teen-ager. Also a multi Grammy-winner and a Kennedy Center honoree. Eric Clapton credits Buddy Guy with helping him shape his music.
To know one’s passion, be compelled to follow it, to live it in everything one does. To inspire others.
We each do our best at the time, respond to what calls us. Right? Rockin’ and rollin’ at age 90 and touring the world? Oh yeah!
photo Sean Gaskell
A kora is a musical instrument, originating in west Africa, which has 21 strings. Picture a large guitar, only the body is round, made from a large calabash (a variety of gourd) and the strings go straight up from the body, like a harp, not across it, as with a guitar. The strings are played with the thumb and index finger, while the remaining three fingers grip a handle on each side of the instrument. (Sean Gaskell: House concerts 7/15 Bellingham, 7/16 Snohomish. See the end for info)
All those strings make for a good deal of resonance as they vibrate and reverberate so close to each other. Were some of those strings added primarily to increase the resonation?
Increase resonation in order to enhance the sound, the feeling, the beauty of the experience?
How many of us add things to our lives simply to add resonance? To enhance our lives?
Certainly music would one thing, the resonation an obvious aspect, from along a spectrum of “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” to “Also sprach Zarathustra.” The origins of “Row, Row, Row Your Boat,” as so often with old folk tunes, are uncertain. The tune and lyrics familiar to us today were recorded in 1881. Then in 1896, Richard Strauss was inspired by Friedrich Nietzsche’s novel, ‘Also sprach Zarathustra,’ to compose a magnificent piece of music which continues to inspire and awe. Most of us are acquainted with the first section of it, the spectacular fanfare, ‘Sunrise.’
When I look at enhancing my life, adding resonation to what I do, and how I process the world around me, music absolutely comes to mind. Meeting new people and experiencing friendships are another ‘absolutely.’ Also, at this time in my life, some important teachers are making a profound impact as I understand more deeply their lessons: Julia Cameron, Steven Pressfield, Angeles Arrien, and Miguel Ruiz.
There is an expression about whether to be a human being or a human doing. A gift from Julia has been me allowing myself to be. I listen to the myriad of birds in my yard, smell the summer air wafting with mown grass and honeysuckle, I hear my cat prancing around meowing his comments to me. Previously, I was busy doing, with no time for such things.
“Be open to outcome, not attached to outcome,” said Angeles. A life-changer when I can do it. Then Miguel’s, “Don’t take anything personally.” Freedom and peace come with this, when I can do it. Peace is a wondrous resonation at this time of my life, when I can appreciate it and be conscious of whether I create it. Or not.
Come – be with us for some wondrous resonation, music, and stories with Sean Gaskell, master kora player. House concert in Bellingham on Saturday 7/15 at Doug & Melinda McLean’s home @ 4 p.m.
In Snohomish on Sunday 7/16 at Rick & Lynda Condon’s home at 4 p.m.
Suggested donation is $15 – $25, no one turned away.
RSVP me at [email protected] or my facebook page.
See you there ~
In Dublin, on April 13, 1742, at age 57, George Frideric Handel debuted his new oratorio, Messiah. He composed it in 22 days. Are you kidding me? It takes me 22 days to clean my house. Even though he was a superstar at that time in London, he had worn out his fans with insignificant operas, and he’d gone bankrupt a couple times. (I had no idea you could go bankrupt in 1742.) So when he was invited to Dublin, across the water he went.
Last week, at Blessed Sacrament Parish in Seattle, their Schola Cantorum, Soloists, and Baroque Orchestra performed for nearly three hours to present Messiah. How many hours of practice that took is beyond me. And the music director, Matthew Loucks. There are not many people I would kiss the ground they walk on. We have never met, yet I watched what he did, how he did it, and the results that together they all achieved. The 21 member choir, soloists, and Baroque Orchestra were passionate; inseparable from the music they were making. They must have been high for days afterward. I hope so.
“But you don’t really care for music, do you? It goes like this, the fourth, the fifth, the minor fall, the major lift. The baffled king composing Hallelujah.”
Years ago, I sang in a randomly recruited choir assembled for a performance of John Michael Talbot’s The Lord’s Supper. The practices were challenging, as most of us had some singing/music background but were far from professional vocalists. However, we were motivated to sing this beautiful piece: the numerous parts, the harmonies, and the community of us working and singing together to live up to the beauty of the music and bring it live to others.
“There’s a blaze of light in every word. It doesn’t matter which you heard, the holy or the broken Hallelujah.”
Supposedly when King George II heard the Hallelujah Chorus the following year at its debut in London, he was so moved by it that he stood up. Of course, when the King stands, so does everyone, which is why audiences by tradition still stand today during performances of the Chorus. There are those who don’t stand, saying it pays respect to a long dead monarch and a societal practice, not to the music. Seems fitting to me to recognize genius, tradition, and a rich beauty that elevates us. When I hear the first notes of the allegro Hallelujah Chorus, I am filled with the exuberance of the music – standing up is the natural response. As I watch the wave of people around me rising to stand, I become part of a community of joyful listeners, joined witnesses to human endeavor. And hope.
“I’ve told the truth, I didn’t try to fool you. And even though it all went wrong, I’ll stand before the Lord of Song with nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah.”
Having a bad day? Feeling hopeless? Just want to feel alive? Listen to the Hallelujah Chorus. It doesn’t matter what religion you believe in or don‘t, what spiritual practice you have or don‘t. If the lyrics don’t work for you, pretend you don’t speak English. Hear the magnificent harmonies, sophisticated timing, exquisite layering of voices, subtleties and dynamism, and the trumpets! Oh the trumpets!
Listen.
Hear the brilliance of Handel and the beauty of human creativity and expression. If you don’t cry, I cry for you.
Thank you, George. Thank you, Leonard. Thank you, Matthew & company.
Thumbtack.com, a go-to site for services of all kinds, including storytellers, musicians, and MC’s, had the excellent discernment to recognize me as an award-winner!
Just as we get ready for the amazing performance of “The Wonder Smith and His Son,” written by Ella Young. This epic telling is the vision of Allison Cox, and sponsored by the Seattle Storytelling Guild. Scads of storytellers, each telling their version of a chapter, and assorted musicians, including myself!
Where: George Center for Community, 2212 NE 125th St., Seattle 98125 (just a couple blocks up from Lake City Way)
When: Saturday, March 19, 2016
Time: 7 – 10 p.m., with an intermission
Suggested Donation:$5 Guild members, $8 non-members, $12 families
The Pacific Ocean is small compared to the size of what I don’t know.
However, what I do know is that belonging is about the most important thing for a human being. Little kids know it, and are completely unabashed about it; they totally know they need to be with people, be in a group, be together with others. As adults, we often try to be cool and not look like we need to belong. Yet we do.
How we do that belonging thing is by hanging out with like-minded, and in many cases, like-hearted people. Some people are born into a bunch of folks like that, and some people not, so then it’s our mission to find them. Like-minded is fairly easy: talking about ideas and politics and workplace issues is pretty safe, and there is a sense of belonging there, even if it is temporary.
Although it was always an undercurrent in me, I didn’t recognize the like-hearted part until I grew up. Like way up: age 50! Like-hearted is where the life is, where the soul is.
Belonging is telling and listening to stories. Stories are what make us human and show us how to make sense of the world. They remind us how others have walked these paths before us. Stories allow us to validate who we are by telling our anecdotes, triumphs, and not-so-much’s. The not-so-much’s were painful or embarrassing or sad but now that they’re past, they’re funny. And the source of our wisdom.
I’ve asked before, “Why do we come to an open mic like this?”
Yes, dreams are part of it. Being brave, trying something new, pushing our boundaries, perfecting our craft, getting some feedback, watching to see what happens next. There are as many reasons to be here as there are people in the seats.
Yet I’m tellin’ ya, it’s about belonging somewhere we value. Being validated. Being recognized.
And when that happens, having something inside me clink into place that says, “Oh yeah, I matter.”
