Joe G

BMG is offering... Helmuth Rilling Edition Bachakademie: The Complete Works of J.S. Bach 172 CD $399 w/free S&H. That works out to $2.32 per disc.

It reminded me a little of the way Billy Cobham played with George Benson, believe it or not.

Mine was in the mailbox when I got home from the gig late last night.

The Golden Age!

One more thought: the more you can take your attention from both the long road ahead and the regrets of recent years, and place it on what you can do today, the better off you'll be. Each day brings with it the opportunity to go a little deeper into your practice, to be a little more present, relaxed, and appreciative. We all make mistakes, and go through up and down cycles, so don't beat yourself up anymore.

Different indigo?

We shall see; still waiting for my disc to arrive.

One of my best friends is an excellent drummer now living in the Bay area. Just today, he posted this essay on his website, mattguggemos.com. I think it's relevant to your post, Bill. What's the value of playing music? by Matthew Guggemos I've often asked myself this question many times. At the age of 33--when some people are thinking about investing a portion of their yearly income, paying mortgages, and putting money into a 401k--I still play my drums everyday, which is something I've done since I was 14. Let's face it: playing music professionally doesn't often allow one to invest income, buy a house, or save for retirement very easily. In my case I've lost money playing music! Studying drums at a university, I've accrued thousands of dollars in school debt and spent countless hours practicing my instrument. (My wife and parents can woefully confirm this: I drove my parents crazy with my tapping, and my wife is currently being driven crazy.) But has this huge expense of time and money been worth it? Despite the hardship and frustration that sometimes accompanies learning and playing an instrument, I, like many other musicians, have gained something that defies any monetary value. Unlike material possessions whose value often diminishes over time (cars are a good example of this), the value of playing an instrument frequently increases as time passes. Think of it this way: As one spends more time playing an instrument, one's skill level on that instrument improves. This, in turn, allows a person to gain more control over the physical movements which are required to play it. And as a person gains facility on his instrument, fewer physical barriers exist that, in the past, have prevented his playing the music he has heard all along in his mind. Over time, mastering an instrument allows an individual to effortlessly express his (or her) ideas and feelings so that other people, too, may share the musician's ideas and feelings. Best of all, master musicians' work can be re-experienced, over and over again, through recordings. One would think, then, that music in the U.S would be something most people find to be extremely valuable--but this isn't necessarily the case. Cars, which have an increasingly important cultural role in the U.S., are one of the most beloved, valuable things in America. Without batting an eye, some people will pay 20, 30 or 40 thousand dollars on a vehicle, often taking out equity from their houses to pay for it. But why are automobiles so important to us Americans? In many ways, compared to the value of learning an instrument, a car seems like a trivial investment. Consider this: Cars have static capabilities; you get what you pay for. In other words, if I bought a cheap car, it doesn't matter how much time I spend in it--it'll still be a clunker. Sure, I could upgrade the stereo, the suspension, the wheels, and the exhaust, but this requires working a job, which is a separate activity altogether, to earn money so that I can pay for these improvements. Worst of all, these improvements are temporary and will eventually break down within a few years. And if I offered to share this car--especially after it has 400,000 miles on it--it's likely that most people wouldn't see this as a highly valuable gesture, to say the least. Also, a car generally has a life expectancy of around 10 years; if you're lucky, perhaps you could squeeze 15 years out of it. But after this, most cars are worth very little. All said, it's interesting that an object, whose value and function deteriorates fairly rapidly, can entice people to spend so much time and energy to obtain it. Perhaps, it wouldn't hurt to redefine what we Americans perceive as valuable. I propose this brief, and in many ways in complete, definition of value: a gesture, action, product, or object whose appeal withstands the test of time. That is, regardless of when something was created, it can be appreciated by people in the past, the present, and the future. Further, creations which take a lot of time and thought to develop usually have the highest universal, or individual, worth. Obviously, many things can fall in this category; however, I'll stick to music. My favorite example of timeless value is John Coltrane's music. This man practiced all day long, everyday, for years. And it showed, too, in his progression from Miles Davis's band to the recordings he made near the end of his life. With Miles's band Coltrane began to experiment with unusual modal ideas; by the time that he had formed his own band with Elvin Jones, McCoy Tyner, and Jimmy Garrison, he had fully developed these ideas into a new form of musical language--one which people still use forty years later in contemporary jazz. All of that hard work has proven its worth. Even today, when pop music holds dominion over millions of peoples' musical collections, Coltrane is still revered by a huge number of fans around the world. Musical skill, however, isn't the only field that has this type of worth. Any skill or trade that deeply engages a person's heart and mind is priceless. Many authors, golfers, painters, sculptors, speech-pathologists, computer programmers, engineers, etc. experience the satisfaction of learning a skill, while striving to develop it toward perfection over time. The elusive goal of trying to achieve perfection, while knowing that it's not possible to attain it, can bring a sense of fulfillment that no paycheck or material object can provide. So, returning to the question at the beginning of this piece, is playing music lucrative? Well, not really. Is it valuable? Yes.

As Harold "Popeye" Booker would say, "Yea, baby!"

My bad. So crushed by my defeat at the hands of two flower-shirted upstarts I was that I'd forgotten all else. I'll remember to be more "self-appreciating" from now on.

Mark and I went out in the second round...

I'll be on the lookout.

Thanks for the kind remarks, Dan. I'm sure that Sweet Potato Pie will see the light of day on some studio or live release!

A wonderful experience - the perfect way to cap off our week with Arno.

Damn - take another chorus!

Ed Bickert and Pat Metheny

This is a pretty interesting split-personality thread. "Coke is evil!" "Thanks for the music downloads, Coke!"

Has there been an issue with this?

Though I have to say; if he had invited us to the Scientology headquarters down there, we would have most definitely declined!

Jim and I briefly met Chick and his wife in Florida; they were perfectly kind and friendly.

Looks to me like she's trying to cop Beyonce's look. Look at this - two sentences that begin and end with the word "look". Don't try that at home.

Well, he can bite me.

That's what I gather. I will talk to Scully, too. It would be great to have an adapter that works in your van, too, so we could tune in while we're on the road.

Do any of you who subscribe to Sirius have any comments about the service and the equipment? There seem to be a lot of options for the gear, and I'm having a bit of difficulty sifting through it. I want to have access in the car and at home. Thanks in advance!

Or women! I don't recall maren or patricia ever hosting one...