The Tax Man

It has been a long time since I have attempted a blog entry.  After spending six months of my life mostly in Europe working on the Mariner of the Seas, it was difficult enough just

to get basic things accomplished much less finding the time to formulate an opinion based upon a set of Europeans views.  I do know that the value of the American dollar was paltry when in combat with the Euro.  In a kindred occurrence the European Union proved itself to be more of a hindrance to a better quality of life.  The creation of the Euro in retrospect largely was responsible for much of the economic instability that emerged.  Proponents rallied a preservation of their native currencies would have been a wiser choice.  Governments make mistakes and that currently is glaringly obvious in the United States.  I can’t remember a time when our set of elected officials seems to be more incapable, unwilling, and self-serving.  After four years of hints of immigration reform, out of the blue at the beginning of President Obama’s second elected term comes the news that legislation now actually will be proposed.  In light of the recent school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown Connecticut, it seems the now expired ban on assault weapons would be a more prudent priority.  Instead Republicans decided they could just not lose the Latino vote in 2016.  Hillary may prove to be too viable as a democratic candidate.  It is almost sickening to see our government in action today.

As with the steady purposeful decline in public education, so too have the skills and intellect of our elected lawmakers become dull and vague escaping to a comfy place of money laundering for the recent American economic meltdown.  Our politicians with their Wall Street sponsors are so deeply in bed with each other, it seems America’s money never will be found.  General Electric, probably the world’s most powerful corporation, continues to laugh in the face of the American public paying nothing in income taxes.  How is this possible?  Instead this year with almost exactly the same amount of income as 2010, I am getting back half as much money.  What the @#$%?  Were Bush’s expiring tax cuts responsible for the federal government picking my low earning income pocket?  The only logical solution for re-infusing the economy is to find America’s money and begin to re-circulate it.  That means G.E. and the rich will have to accept their responsibility of subsidizing our government.  That responsibility certainly cannot continue to be placed upon the working poor and middle class.  It seems our recognized and documented process of government has sprouted almost as many malignant tumors as citizens dying from cancerous cell mutation from electro-magnetic radiation.  We are just @#$%ed up.  Plain and simply being at war in three different foreign countries is what broke our bank.  Still the Dick Cheney’s of the world through their Halliburtons continue to to suggest America’s economy is stronger while we are at war.  “Bomb them and we will fix it, for a price.”  This strategy has proven to be an utter failure as publicly known George Bush was not able to get Iraq’s valuable crude oil.  We don’t really know to this day if that is the case.  We got the hell out of dodge and as Rupert Murdoch’s monopoly on media directed, they swept it under the rug.  With the falling of the Wall Street Journal into his hands, the last chapter in America’s honest, viable, news reporting draws to a close.  It’s all spin.  I cannot even read any of the web’s popular news sites anymore.  It’s all about gaming and selling advertising and iPhones to America’s adolescents.  Is seems a parallel has occurred between the fall of our government and the agencies that are supposed to canvass them.  Again we are @#$%ed.  Americans just tool away, but I’m not sure anyone really is happy, except the rich.  They have our money and are enjoying a pina colada on the beach in Grand Caymen.  It would seem the recent release of Les Mis more readily could be applied to an imminent social change in America.  Indeed television certainly is enjoying a grassroots Renaissance exposing the more viable and down to earth trade practices of a more viable America.  Can it actually be that, “Jobs are coming back from Asia?”  With the death of entrepreneur Steve Jobs Apple once again is unguided.  That large slave camp in China where people kill themselves trying to escape has become too large a carbuncle on Apple’s face.  The news was announced that manufacturing was returning to the U.S.  Maybe it has something to do with the state of China’s air and their overpopulation.  Did I mention they are Communist?  None of it makes any sense.  While I was a supporter of Bill Clinton, most people don’t know that his major campaign intent was to allow every citizen of the United States to purchase and own their own home.  While I bit on this bait, and I feel it seemed wise and prudent, that intent became the beginning of the housing bubble and our economy’s subsequent meltdown.  That is when the shrewd occupants of Wall Street decided to make that intent a reality.  They began offering mortgages to everyone whether their credit scores were approved or not.  The real estate industry immediately almost overnight raised prices on homes to an almost uncanny level.  I watched this happen in Columbus Ohio.  The new homes that were being built were of poor quality materials, but the bubble was on!  The pooling of those sub-prime mortgages creating hedge funds sealed our economy’s fate many years later.  While Bill Clinton did construct the Dayton Accords all but solving the Bosnian Conflict, this good intention grossly was misshapen by the likes of Bernie Madoff and his Wall Street chronies.  None of this economic activity effects me except that for some reason I only am getting back HALF of the tax refund I received two years ago with the same income.  I guess they were right when they said it really will get you in the pocketbook.  I can’t help but think that what seems like a low flying reconnaissance drone above our neighborhood has something to do with it. 

The Political Usage of Prostitution

         A recent news story that has broken concerning potential illicit behavior by some members of the Secret Service accompanying President Obama to the Summit of the Americas in Cartagena, Columbia is a prime example of the corrupt nature of modern day news reporting.  Historically the employment of prostitutes by politicians often has meant the destruction of careers, marriages, and lives.  It seems we the people or rather our news agencies find this aged practice questionable.  The ever-reaching far right contingency in America utilizes often hypocritical, unchristian, and unconstitutional dogma do promote their own acquisition of wealth.  If a few

politicians, televangelists, or Secret Service members fall in the process so be it.  For decades the media has built celebrities and then brought them down for entertainment purposes.  It is unethical.  While under the ever watchful eye of the paparazzi, it is inevitable oppressed actors, musicians, and the youthful rich will make mistakes in public.  Simply it is because they have very little privacy in which to grow by making mistakes.  They are made in the public forum, and that is the very concept of many television news programs.  The humor in this emerging story is that

what is being reported is misunderstood.  The far right’s use of a staunch, oppressive, Fire and Brimstone type of attitude may create entertaining news, but it also can destroy lives.  Prostitution is one of the world’s oldest professions.  In many countries all over the world it is accepted and even legal.  It is not in America.  Instead our hypocritical capitalist socio-economic system deprives Americans of what they deserve and sells it to them.  Why not sell sex?  Once we used to receive clean, pure, tasty drinking water for free.  We had cleaner air to breath.  We had less noise.  Slowly republicans have been taking away our land, our rights, and our happiness in return for their own monetary gain.  Seen in its proper perspective, prostitution is a humane anodyne.  For those who cannot afford to purchase a trophy wife and cannot navigate America’s decrepit social network, there is an alternative.  The far right do not recognize it because that revenue will not be in their pocket.  Once long ago the economy in America was driven by small business.  Money flowed between Americans in a successful economic system that was not reliant upon large drug cartels, a corrupt medical profession, and interceding insurance companies.  Also the reliance upon the automobile was not the core of the American economy.  Once the arts were a major generator of revenue as the entertainment industry flourished.  Sean Parker and Steve Jobs ended that with the invention and use of the Napster software.  Today we are expected to subsidize the rich.  That is what we do.  We do not create.  We do not intermingle.  We do not actualize our own personal happiness.  We pay the debt for living in our own country.  America is not the same.  With this great system of Capitalism, one still cannot go to the mall and buy a girlfriend or a wife.  Instead we are sold remedies to treat symptoms of our unhappiness.  We can go to a strip club and waste our money on sexual frustration.  We can download pornography and self gratify.  We cannot go to the source of our loneliness, our physical needs, or our emotional longing and have them satisfied even temporarily.  Then we would not buy.  Music no longer satisfies these same needs as it once attempted.  Now it has been manipulated to make us buy.  The buying of sex is not immoral.  We do it in our marriages.  It is branded immoral by a contingency that is stuffy, controlling, and rich.  The seeking of physical intimacy is natural.  It is a component of human nature.  It is human.  If one chooses not to be manipulated by evil People attempting to acquire your home, your vehicle, and your inheritance then what are the alternatives?  Is it to become gay?  Is it to become mentally ill?  The misuse of prostitution is common in America, because it is misunderstood.  It like the vices of drug abuse and alcoholism is abused by unhealthy Americans.  It can be utilized in a positive way.  Certainly a public argument with a prostitute demanding the intervention of local police is not a positive example of prostitution, especially when it was instigated by an member of America’s Secret Service while accompanying President Obama to Columbia.  The irony of this story is, Cartagena is a common and well known host of the profession of prostitution.  Is is logical that American men would attempt to utilize this amenity if they found themselves in close proximity to this temptation.  It is unfortunate these men were not savvy and experienced enough to navigate the cloaked practice of the selling of sex.  They @#$%ed up, but not because it involved prostitution.  It is because these men dropped the diplomatic ball.  They like other fallen angels failed to use their reason to control and then satisfy their personal needs.  They got carried away.  They let fame and notoriety influence their common sense and lost sight of reality.  In perspective a member of the Secret Service is a security guard.  That is all.  For what they provide security is a point of contention.  If these men were off duty and not responsible for the President’s safety, then what they choose to do in the privacy of their own time is their business.  Navigating a Columbian brothel probably is not the strong point of a bullheaded, self-righteous, Blackwater type agent.  It could be the skill of a cruise ship musician. 

The Rhythmic Aspects of Pop Style

            In as much as what has become the modern definition of popular music is not musical, its ploy merits study.  It is a very clever musical ruse that parades itself as being genuine.  Without true emotional effort and learned musical technique, pop falsely masquerades itself as stellar performance.  How is this accomplished?  It is simple.  The guitar traditionally has not been included in early music education for a reason.  The simple strumming of strings does not teach a potential musician how to count internally.  Anyone with basic physical coordination can move their hand in one direction and reciprocate over the strings of the guitar creating the traditional strum.  Unfortunately this rhythmic concept that is created is not representative of the spacing of notes found in European classical and American jazz music.   When 8^th notes are generated from this intimate, proximal, alternating gesture they are spaced too closely together.  The initial stroke by obligation of having to arpeggiate six strings is projected ahead of the beat.  What should be a single pulse becomes a flam that erroneously abstracts where exactly a traditional single attack should occur in other styles of music.  It replaces a solitary intellectually prepared attack with a grouping of two.  “Ta da!”  Quintessentially this is how modern pop is defined and performed.  Irresponsibly pop musicians do not count or feel time internally.  Instead they use the crutch of kinesthetics to fabricate a false representative feel of time.  The resulting feel, not the affective defining of rhythm, tempo, and time is stretched over the top of what traditionally would be a single downbeat.  The two 8^th notes that are produced both ahead and behind the beat are pulled together with tension rebounding one another like a teeter-totter.  It is interesting that while the spacing of these notes is too close to actually define time, the rebounding that is necessary in Swing music is present.  How much a guitarist flexes their wrist determines this amount of swing.  Hauntingly parallel to the unique characteristic of Rock ‘n’ Roll, the pop beat can be heard to swing and be straight at the same time creating an engaging result.  It is unfortunate that because thought, emotion, and soul are not involved, the resulting rhythmic concept inherently is incapable of producing a human feeling.  Traditional accents or syncopations are replaced instead with a smooth bed of repeating 8^th notes.  The most surprising characteristic of pop rhythm is that although it is insipidly sweet, some listeners perceive it to be rhythmically aggressive.  The genre of Techno exhibits this same quality.  Sonically it deceives the listener.  The strum motion of the upper arm pivoting at the elbow over the strings of the guitar cannot be found in any other obvious human motion except sex.  This is why pop rhythm is used as a foundation for porno music. While good for providing the backdrop of erotic sexuality activity, it kinesthetically produces no defined dance beat.  It does not breathe and allow the limbs to reciprocate freely.  Instead its strokes are forced and seeded with tension, the overt quality that pop aficionados seem to enjoy. 

            When a pianist attempts to perform in pop style, a stark and rude realization will occur.  The ease with which it is created on the guitar and bass is absent.  The piano also uses a reciprocating percussive action, but is it is not equipped with the upstroke emulating the strum of the guitar.  The pianist must wait for the key to reciprocate before again striking it.  This delay in Cristofori’s original piano action is what created the feel of early piano music.  It is interesting over the years that pop has found its way into the piano resulting in its subordinate technique.  The approach that resulted was a complete departure from the classical methodology of piano instruction.  Personally I have seen as many as five kinesthetic approaches to pop realized on the piano.  They all were surprising to me as a classically trained jazz pianist.  The first was stabbing fingers, fingers that were extended straight and hurled at the keyboard in a gesture simulating the early attack of the guitar strum.  The second was curled fingers, fingers that were curled inward toward the palms as tightly as possible minimizing the motion necessary for repeated notes.  The third was penguin arms, forearms that were held stationary parallel above the keyboard with the fingers free to dangle limply on the keys.  The fourth probably is the most common and can be characterized by the playing of Sir Elton John.  Unlike traditional musical grooves that require a tightening of the muscles to define strong rhythmic patterns, pop uses a loose body movement undulating alternately between the arms.  Stevie Wonder must be credited as the most masterful of this purveyor pop keyboard music. 

            What must be understood is that traditional musical rhythms and their notation do not lend themselves to the pop approach.  The grift that has been created in commercial music is that by choosing pop for musical performance, all other traditional rhythmic styles will be discarded.  Any musical style that has emerged, been developed, and found its way into print must be re-interpreted to be performed in this derivative style.  This interpretation abandons the more engaging feels of what once were viable and popular forms of dance.  It substitutes a base, derivative, artificial time feel that is incapable of engaging movement in the human body.  For this reason people do not dance at pop concerts.  Instead these concerts represent the glorification of the pop artist, the sentimental masturbation of the public, and the generating of revenue. 

            It should be possible for pop and artistic music to coexist.  The lines of demarcation clearly should be defined.  The artistry of real music never should bear Jesus’ cross of persecution.  Artistic music is necessary for the sustenance of humanity, and it cannot be replaced with cheap, shallow, shortsighted fodder intended for the consuming masses. 

A Different Drummer

            Marching to the beat of a different drummer always has been suspect.  It seems only artists have the gall to begin such a revolution.  America her last two decades has become weak, apathetic, and uncaring.  I take pride in the notion after hearing Rick Santorum speak on C-SPAN months ago, I knew only he would be the viable Republican presidential candidate.  Iowa it seems, throbbing to the beat of a “new” drummer, also cast Santorum above the ridiculous lot of soap-box-shouting, media present, seemingly conservative Republicans.  A small victory was won in my head.  Many things I think and feel are diverted by modern day society.  Often I feel guilty for being a college-educated man.  Often I feel guilty still for possessing the possible love of a woman.  Often I feel guilty for feeling a need for heterosexual interaction, love, and sexual fulfillment.  If I weren’t careful I would begin to believe 2012 would be the seeming end of the world.  I am not sure how in America the “good guy” became the “bad guy.”  I am tired of feeling guilty for being good, but my conscience predicates I should.  Still I receive no tangible reward of which I am aware.  Still in deep emotional pain, thwarting the imminent result, I persevere.  I feel alone with little spiritual fulfillment.  Only my brain serves me on task daily not to drop its guard allowing me to become an uneducated manipulated putz.  It is your brain that drives the truck.  It is your brain, not your dick, that creates that drum beat. 

Shallow America

            After returning from Europe for six months, it has taken me longer than usual to remember my normal routine.  America is not helping.  It is apparent that American television has digressed.  Every time I turn on the tube I see neo-Republican soapbox shouters caught in an endless loop of stale, uninteresting, pretentious commentary.  Why is it they are always shouting?  Why are they always whirling their bodies around like Shakers and Quakers seemingly speaking in tongues?  If I hear one more panel speak about the state of the American economy...  We’ve got it.  You don’t need to tell us anymore about what you don’t know.  We don’t need to see any more bad news.  What we need to hear about is innovation in business, manufacturing, or the arts.  What we need to see is a return to America’s grassroots movement embracing things that are meaningful, righteous, and giving.  What we don’t need is shallow commentary trying to squeeze a dime out of the American people.  There are too many channels.  There are too many networks.  There are too many devices.  The simple task of finding a program has become monumental.  There are mirror channels now.  One is HD and one is not.  Why have both?  I prefer a basic set of 60 or so channels provided by a satellite.  That used to be Direct TV, and I remember experiencing it in Black Mountain, North Carolina at a Comfort Inn.  There on the tube was everything I needed to stay entertained.  These days I find myself watching only a few networks.  Their content veritably is grassroots.  “Moonshiners.”  “Storage Wars.”  “American Chopper.”  “Swamp Men.”  Why is it these particular kinds of programs are interesting?  There isn’t a lot going on, but their concept deals with a grassroots level of humanity.  They are satisfying, because the people in these shows are doing things Americans always have done and enjoyed.  There is both a visceral and spiritual satisfaction that comes from pursuing a cause and then reaping the reward.  What makes it better is that it is not cyber.  It is not cerebral.  It is tangible, and that means satisfying the human psyche.  America’s wealthy slowly over time have robbed Americans of the infrastructure that used to satisfy some of these desires.  We used to have clean, natural, drinking water.  We used to have clean natural air devoid of electromagnetic waves.  We used to have clean space to stretch our legs.  Now it appears America is going Communist.  I never knew what that looked like until I went to Spain.  Then I began to see long flat expanses of governmental-like housing.  There were metal fences.  There were courtyards.  There was dirt.  There were few trees.  There were few people.  It looked like a Communist camp.  America is becoming increasingly Communist.  If Barak Obama is a socialist, and that would not be bad, he is not responsible for the wealthy in America’s charge to communize the United States.  Are not our freedoms as both humans and American citizens being violated?  Did not the Patriot Act violate our right to privacy?  Does not the legislation Imminent Domain undermine the essence of the American Constitution?  Why would we elect former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich president?   All ready he has proven he is capable of failing to implement a “Contract with America.”  He proved he could shut down the federal government.  He has lied to his wife and his republic.  If we the people do not being to see what is happening, it may be too late. 

What's the Bottom Line?

I am tired of being mind fucked.

The Future American Economy

            For survival’s sake we as human beings have to be flexible.  I have found the older you get the more flexible you must become.  Actually in my life compromising my life long musical ambitions became the norm.  In music always one had to be competitive to stay ahead.  I learned this early or rather just worked hard because it was the thing to do.  You could either drink beer and smoke pot, or excel in some particular field.  Because I have been a musician since childhood it seemed normal to try to excel in music.  Luckily my background and training paid off and my diligent dedicated labor kept me ahead in the musical game.  I was able to begin playing “gigs” and making money from playing music.  I never made a conscious decision to be cocky.  You just had to be to be competitive.  When I moved to the Midwest from the American South, I received a rather rude awakening.  The acclimation that took place over several years was one that was socialist.  The musicians in Columbus were not concerned with being told how good you were.  They were honest and genuine enough to want you to be a part of their fraternity, because there was a common thread.  You all loved music.  That love was what allowed you to become a part of their community and thus “gig.”  I learned a gigantic lesson in sincerity.  Over the years it became boring to me to concern myself with self-promotion.  I had had so much of myself over the years, I was not interested in hearing myself tell anyone how well I played and that someone should give me a gig.  I begin to pursue music because it was the right thing to do.  What could that mean?  The right thing to do is part of the Protestant Work Ethic.  We work hard as men, because it was why we were put here on this earth.  Our job is to succeed.  It is right to continue to learn, be creative, and be productive.  That is why I do music.  I have forgotten in America the field of commercial music is a dog eat dog scenario.  I had been involved in academia for almost nine years.  I wasn’t having to compete in the “real world” for recognition as a musician.  I had paid my dues.  Now that I no longer immediately am involved with academia, the rules of engagement seem to have changed.  The game has changed.  Above all the music has changed.  The kind of music I was taught and to which I listened was personal.  It allowed for personal expression.  If the music performance didn’t have your soul in it, you would fold.  It would become very cold.  You no longer would be playing music in public.  Now the game is to be flexible.  The game is to compromise.  The game is to not play like we played by my learning.  If you do you become an outcast for not lowering yourself to the lowest common denominator.  Recently I have been trying to become re-motivated about music.  Because I have been a professional musician for over twenty years, I play well.  Because I have studied music at the doctoral level I know a lot about music.  I can’t help it.  When I play I feel like I am stepping on people’s toes.  Is this because of the weak economy?  Is it because people are too uneducated to get what I do?  Is it that people have become so self-centered that they no longer are able to stop what they are doing and listen to someone else’s opinion?  Karioke was the beginning of the end for professional music.  Whoever decided that people should try to perform musically, no matter how un-trained they were, should be shot.  There was a time when music attempted to be artistic.  It attempted to transcend.  With these efforts came communication and communing with the public.  Now music sucks up to the public and sacrifices its artistry in a lame excuse of entertainment.  It has been emasculated.  This trend must be a component of P.C., a premise that has become a joke, but stealthy still is dictating our lives.  Slowly in America the freedoms and ideals human beings have forged and prolonged are being replaced with communist ideals.  We are being manipulated over time to become mindless, soulless, money-spending androids.  The reason why the economy in America is in the dumps is because we have no product.  Moving money around, while it worked for a while for many who became rich, no longer is a viable source of income.  The money all has been received, and those who have received it certainly are not putting it back into the American economy.  It is laundered in some Grand Cayman bank and sent elsewhere.  America has been abandoned, and I for one wish those rich people with the money would shut the fuck up.  There is no way the economy in America can be re-fueled by the poor.  It takes money to make money, and  those small business loans and credit lines have been absorbed by those crafty rich.  Until people are employed, a product is produced sold and bought, and that money circulates, there will be no revitalization of America’s economy.  The Grassroots roots program that started America will have to return.  Maybe the disappearance of those crafty rich is what is necessary.  History shows what is to come. 

What Actually is the American Economy?

            Twice only in my short life have I experienced mental illness.  Mental illness can be stealth.  In certain ways it can be more difficult to understand and treat than physiological illnesses.  That is why we have psychology and psychiatry.   What do I mean by “mental illness?”  Perhaps the term mental illness is inappropriate jargon.  If one becomes off balance in their daily routine for some unknown reason, is this mental illness?  Mental illness better clarified would mean an ailment or affliction that sustains the test of time.  It is not a temporary navigating of the stormy seas of everyday life.  It would be something that sticks around.  In professional terms that would be categorized as “chronic.”  Some deviant situation that recurs for a length of time likely could cause mental illness, because the mind loses the ability to remember what is healthy.  It would be often in the evolution of man the human mind and body have enabled themselves to survive by the process of accommodation.  When faced with a non-changing environment within which we are forced to operate for financial sustenance, our minds can accommodate the situation by adapting.  Upon scrutiny we may alter our moral or ethical codes to justify our economic freedom.  Is this freedom worth the social and psychological freedom we pursue as human beings?  More astutely characterized is this “American” freedom worth the psychological price?  We cannot be so shallow to recognize many other global cultures are not afforded any civil liberty, so the boundary between human and civil liberty must be defined.  One could use the United States Constitution as “ground zero.”  That could be why many foreign cultures seek asylum in the United States.  They understand, respect, and admire the rights outlined in our Constitution.  Sociologically the challenge is to understand human rights and how they have been defined and implemented by different political regimes.  What is an unacceptable environment?  In the field of labor, an entity that Abraham Lincoln considered synonymous with America, unions were organized to mitigate conditions of labor.  Today the term “labor union,” like many things in non-mainstream America, can elicit bipolar responses.  In recent decades America politically has become more polarized.  The term “mainstream” has gone undercover leaving the defining of our own society to ourselves.  We have become forced to become better educated on our own to survive in an increasingly hypocritical and often evil socio-economic construct.  Once afforded government-provided amenities have vanished.  With them has vanished our quality of life forcing us to buy the creature comforts our country once provided.  This has become the “New American Economy.”  We are living off one another, not for one another.  Ironically and erroneously Republicans shout, “Socialist” at our President, when their already-rooted communist economic infrastructure is the enemy. Grass roots artistic and intellectual aesthetics have become disguised and decreed unimportant.  We are experiencing a modern “Dark Ages” perhaps or perhaps not fueled by a teetering economy.  It is the prospectus of this economy that should be in question.  

An Artistic Healing of Neurosis

            Upon watching Woody Allen being interviewed by Jay Leno, it became perfectly clear that his comedy is a metaphor for Jewish neurosis.  A light bulb went off in my head!   I have been asking myself the last month how I am going to understand and heal my own neurosis.  His answer was comedy.  Over the decades after the obtainment of security (personal wealth) he was able to use his neurosis positively as a motivation for creativity.  Although misunderstood many would be surprised to know upon study artists do the same thing.  “When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade!”   The argument presents itself that neurosis should not be necessary for great art.  Upon study it could be proven easily that it is this unresolvedness often that prompts attempted healing by use of artistic metaphors.  Artists study and understand, synthesize, and abstract their aberrations into artistic renderings.  The thorough study and expunging of their afflictions in the present helps to cure the eventual, longer lasting, emotional effects the neurosis may cause in the future.  What is interesting is, “Will an artist have able material with which to create if there is no such rift?”  Consequently are artists naturally and openly sentenced to lives of continual neurosis? 

            The primary and painful step in the healing process is attempting hypothetically to understand its cause.  A hypothetical or disassociated survey of one’s own history attempts to quell painlessly neurosis’s symptoms.  The artistic process on the other hand may use the emotional unrest of neurosis and funnel it into creative impetus.  While it could be understood traditionally only good emotion is used as motivation for art, history has shown that also art has been used for catharsis.  The film Goya’s Ghost provides a perfect example of such art.  The argument could be presented that creativity which is intelligently and skillfully channeled may only be an attempted diversion or escape from  neurosis.  It is now that the subconscious mind is brought into play.  As synthesizers humans should not be expected cognitively to understand the total minutia of their own psychology.  If we were then the Romantic period in art and literature may not have ever existed.  A balanced combination of Classicism and Romanticism could be viewed as a suitable recipe for the healing of neurosis. 

Ms. Saigon at CFRT

            Ms. Saigon has been around for quite a while.  I had never seen it.  I have played some of the music in cruise ship production shows, because I recognized a few tunes.  I did not do any mental preparation before seeing the show.  I did remember upon seeing the people-filled lobby, it takes some effort to absorb “live” musical theater.  It never is like a movie, where you can just relax and enjoy the drama.  Navigating the other patrons in my eyes is the largest obstacle to overcome when trying to enjoy a play. 

            I found out upon entering the theater the orchestra was on stage.  “Oh. Chicago,” I thought.  What was the purpose of that?  Then I noticed there were virtually no sets on stage.  There were only chairs on either side like two jury boxes or better yet, choir pews in a church.  For me this set the stage for what was about to transpire.  It would not be a run-of-the-mill musical.  It would be more like a straight play with music.  Then when the lights came down and the music began, I realized it was an operetta.  Like Les Miserable it was all music with no spoken dialog.  Then Jesus Christ Superstar and Godspell came to mind.  It was kind of rock music with a little oriental flavor sprinkled in.  I didn’t like the first act at all.  The music seemed boring, vanilla, and long-winded.  It was bad Andrew Lloyd Webber.  I felt the characters were portrayed accurately.  Then I realized I had to meet and build a relationship with each character before I could begin to enjoy the show.  First there was a stoic quiet seventeen-year-old Vietnamese girl who was being forced to sell her body for money.  How could I empathize with her without a better setting of the scene?  I realized Ms. Saigon was a “Broadway” depiction of fairly serious subject matter.  It was attempting to do two things, reveal a truly dramatic story and entertain a theater audience.  It was Chicago, Oliver, and Sweet Charity in one.  There were similarities.  First Engineer reminded me of Fagen.  Instead of instructing degenerate boys how to “pick a pocket or two,” he was instructing young Vietnamese women how to have sex for money.  At the culmination of Act II he cemented the similarity to Chicago.  Engineer created a prospect of the story with a rousing solo production number called “The American Dream.”  “This was the lawyer in Chicago,” I thought to myself.  He was the comedic relief, calculated as such.  That felt like an old television show with a clown coming on intermittently to relieve the tension.  That works.  Then Cabaret came to mind.  A narrator was hosting the show.  That also works.  Immediately at the start of the show it is necessary quickly to set the scene.  There is no foreplay for the drama.  Ms. Saigon begins with a loud, aggressive, brothel scene except the drama is being played in front of a theater orchestra.  That was strange.  It made it intimate.  How could the mood be set for a sultry, sexy, alluring whorehouse in this environment?  It is a lot to expect your audience cold to warm up to such an intent.  People are eating or working or just living, and then immediately they are projected lingerie-clad young women gyrating on chairs.  Normally as an adult male I should enjoy this.  In a “theater” show where I am more accustomed to serious themes being explored, it was difficult to accept such a gratuitous offering.  I tried.  Still because I am fourty-nine, watching neighbor’s children doing local theater does not push my buttons.  I watched the G.I.’s dance with the girls and felt absolutely nothing of what they were intended to feel.  It was like watching high school kids spoon.  I was too old and did not have the time to waste dredging up a feeling that I knew would be pointless.  I watched hypothetically as the main character seemed to fall in lust with the young seventeen-year-old Kim.  I could be sympathetic to the situation, because I too had done the same thing.  I would never be so juvenile to fall in love with a prostitute, because it wouldn’t be love anyway.  It would be lust, or love based upon physical desire.  I have learned my lesson over time that this is not love.  For a helpless G.I. stationed in Vietnam, it is plausible he could be that naïve, like Radar in the television series M*A*S*H.  To solidify their purely physical attraction they kissed a lot on stage.  I find this also difficult to watch, because it does my psyche absolutely no good whatsoever.  Why would I want to watch this on stage?  It is personal and boring to me. 

            I began to understand the story as it approached the conclusion of the first Act.  Then a completely new and seemingly strange Tinkerbell-like character stepped from stage right.  She appeared while Kim reflected at her miniature romance alter which appeared repeatedly throughout the show.  Now there were two Kims, but one was wearing a black negligee and was surreal.  Upon reflection Ms. Saigon did attempt to offer you clues to its disguised unfolding story.  That was smart but also needed.  The music was not sufficiently strong to carry the play without sets.  It needed an ensemble of things to bring it off, and some of that was sheer effort.  Without getting distracted I must admit I was grievously disappointed in the pianist.  (Being a professional pianist myself for the last ten years aboard cruise ships, I am equipped to be able to make a value judgment about musicality.)  I felt the rest of the orchestra was capable, but this man failed to deliver the goods at the keyboard.  He did what most every pianist is doing these days, skating over the performance with no tactile connection to the piano.  His sound was thin, devoid of tone and bass, and flaccidly performed.  His limp waving wrists proved there was no physical connection to the music, only cognitive.  You could feel it.  Better yet you could not “feel” it, because there was nothing to feel.  Admittedly he had his hands full conducting the long and complex score.  Trying to cover both bases is too much for one person, but that often can get you the gig.  A solid, heart-felt piano performance was needed to bring the show up to CFRT standards.  I longed for both a bass fiddle or guitar, and a solid, meaty piano sound.  The piano truly was piano in this show, too much so.  It played a solidly subordinate role to the overpowering woodwinds.  That will be the drawback to placing your orchestra on stage.  I wondered again at the logic of it.  Did they not want to deal with sets?  The scenic designer at CFRT is top notch.  I remember a scene from Miss Saigon in a ship show that had the couple in a lofted treehouse- like bed.  It was effective.  This truly was a strange setting.  The sound quality was poor.  While the actors did need to be miked to be heard over the on-stage orchestra, the sound quality through the speakers was both harsh and often distorted.  I came to realize the show could have been produced acoustically.  That would have been fine.  By the end of the second Act, volume levels did reinforce this was a rock opera. 

            After suffering through the first Act, finally I began to be able to “feel” what was happening in the show.  It was a tough nut to crack and more attempts are needed to polish this retro piece.  I never thought a sole alto saxophone would provide the much needed warmth the show required to be intimate. 

           

America's Incognito Geronimo

While strategically attempting to operate incognito it is a natural consideration whether to release photos of Osama Bin Laden’s body. Conspiracy theorists easily could speculate Bin Laden’s murder was a fake. Many believe 9/11 was, although not a fake in that it rendered historical suffering for the United States, a publicity stunt. Considering the current socio-economic situation and with America involved in three wars, it was time for a military victory. Soldiers have continued to die for what has become a nebulous cause. Is ten years too long to be at war to find one man? While it is well known Osama Bin Laden was the instigator of many terrorist acts upon the United States, posthumously remaining organizations in differing countries will continue to antagonize the United States. It is a great victory. Upon querying the loved ones of many lost in the collapse of the twin towers, closure seems not an option. Loss seems to last forever. Justice brought by Bin Laden’s execution should send a message to those remaining Extreme Islamic factions. Whether hiding in a farmer's cellar or a seeming militarily protected mansion, the United States will find you and serve justice for the American people. Bin Laden declared war on America with the greatest domestic attack since Pearl Harbor instigating World War ll by the Japanese. Under the cloud cover of Wall Street’s hedge fund and Ponzi schemes, for ten years the U.S.'s financing of the epic hunt for Bin Laden with it's War on Terror has been exponentially costly. During the process former President George W. Bush dipped his hand in the federal reserve and handed it to many of these criminals. Americans decided when offered a choice of funding this war or necessarily rebuilding our own fragile economy, we are the priority. This opinion clearly was conveyed by former United States Senator Richard John Santorum in a recent speech on C-SPAN. As he reminisced about Reagonomics America’s choice of us over them became clear. Who can say Santorum’s view is what America wants, but it seemed plausible. Astutely he capsulized the American political front. He urged a renewed federal anti-corporate commitment to the American ideal domestically. There was no mention of globalization or outsourcing. In the perfect symptom of the raid on Bin Laden’s compound, Santorum incognito mandated economically the appropriate use of our armed forces. Defense. Ironically enough President Obama, with his boldest move as current Commander-and-Chief, implemented an offensive tactical strike fueled by years of cumulative intelligence painstakingly collected by the U.S. and her allies. Under the shadow of the Battle of Mogadishu, Operation Eagle Claw, and the Bay of Pigs, President Obama’s sanctioned Operation Geronimo exemplified a decisive role of leadership for the United States. Singlehandedly it should restore America's top, global, military prowess. While our defense technology could have been superior, without the courage and heroism of men it never would be seen. Man it seems has stepped up to the plate. God would be happy.

The Cruise Industry and the Messiah

Most everyone I tell I work on cruise ships responds with a smile. After almost ten years I have to ask myself do I still like the work. When I first began working in the cruise industry I could only think having a job on the ocean in the entertainment industry must be delightful. The travel is the highpoint. Having to “Greet and Smile” every single crewmember and guest within a ten foot radius all day long is a chore. If it does not feel like a chore, then you become brainwashed to believe this is real life. As soon as you return to the states shock will set in, unless you simply ignore your environment and continue with your learned protocol. In this situation you can be a good influence on America. The United States Armed Services providing this service to the Middle East is suspect. Where in the historical philosophy of America did our military absorb the role of Christian missionaries? While Ronald Reagan favored a large defense budget, I’m not sure this would have been his view. Star Wars was a satellite-based missile defense system intended to protect the continental United States from a rogue nuclear attack. The operative words are National Defense. Currently our military is playing National Offense. Strategically playing strong offense can be the best defense, but it is more expensive. The media currently says the United States is involved in three wars. Recognizing missionaries in full combat dress must be confusing. It is liberal. It is bleeding heart liberal. Being involved in three wars in the Middle East seems Islamic. Using the United States military as Christian/Islamic missionaries seems Obamic. Is it correct many of the opposition to President Obama’s policies pointedly refer to his middle name Hussein? These realizations seem to mark the President as a prophet. Is that what we need in a President? Does America further need to empty her pockets as a closet imperialist paving the way for Republican globalization? Has Haliburton suddenly grown an ethical partner exploring a new way to drain the pockets of other countries? It is a complex issue. When I see American military leaders communing Christianly with the indigenous peoples of countries with which we are at war, it turns my stomach. Isn’t war ugly? How can we promote peace with the local populaces and still effectively defeat their insurgencies? Suddenly Donald Rumsfeld’s military strategy for defeating Saddam Hussein doesn’t seem so bad. It was a war. It was dirty and ugly and brutal. Mercilessly we bombed strategic points of Iraqi infrastructure rendereing their country impotent of maintaining civil life. All the while Haliburton was poised to save the day and fill their pockets. Whose pockets will be filled if successfully we are able to democratize Afghanistan? Who will reap the rewards of all those poppies? Who will harvest their vast supply of natural resources? Who currently is tapping those destroyed oil wells in Iraq? The media doesn’t seem to have much to say about Iraq these days. What is going on there? Formerly the French and the Russians maintained successful oil contracts with Iraqi suppliers. Christian/Islam beliefs although meritorious to man don’t work in times of war. What happens? The wars linger on in an attempt to breed American allies overseas. What happened in Korea and Viet Nam? President Nixon masterminded our exit from the Viet Nam war, and little subsequently was heard about the evil regime of Pol Pot. The decision is made and we wash our hands of the altercation, such as Iraq. I for one in belief in the concept of war feel it should not be painted over with happy tidings. Rebuilding countries from within within our construct is nothing more than Imperialism. We can act the Messiah when doing it, but is Christianity and Islam the right path for war? It certainly is the most expensive.

An Obituary

In a heartfelt shout out I must express my sincere condolences for Mr. Seagate Barracuda 9.2GB Ultra SCSI 3.5LP Internal Hard Drive purchased from MacMall in Memphis, Tennessee at a cost of $242.94 on December 29, 2000. On April 27, 2011 this worthy piece of gear humbly passed away quietly ceasing to exist. It flawlessly produced 12 CD projects of my own in a home studio driven by an Ohio State University surplus PowerMac 7100/80. On a shoestring budget I was able to piece together a professional MIDI/audio production tool seamlessly integrating digital audio and MIDI sequencing. With the help of Digidesign’s Sound Designer ll, Mark of the Unicorn’s Digital Performer and Unisyn, SampleCell ll, Adaptec’s Toast, and a Sharp MD-720 Mini Disk Recorder I was able to create music as good as any professional commercial recording studio. It kicked hard to the end scanning over 70 pieces of music on an Apple One Scanner lost with its demise. While I still possess several other SCSI hard drives, one possibly with Apple’s OS 8.5 still installed, I could recreate my personalized suite of music software. With tomorrow comes the task of retrieving my original install disks and CD-ROM’s of audio files. With a little luck and patience I may be able to resurrect this worthy computer-based audio/MIDI production system. All is not lost, because I have been diligent to upgrade this software with each purchase of a newer Apple laptop computer. This seemingly archaic combination of hardware utilizing NUBUS technology made producing music a snap. Maybe my removal and storing of the MOTU Micro Express MIDI interface was too much for it to handle. It felt the loss and decided it could not stand alone. Somehow in a stroke of good fortune I saw fit to copy my FreeMIDI setup to a floppy disk. While Mac OS X seems not to recognize these worthy files, still the archiving may be fruitful. Ten years is a reasonable existence, although many of these years were spent sitting idle in a box. The years it functioned saw great demand for its product recording digital audio flawlessly. Never once did I have a problem with this hard drive, and I will keep it as a token of my appreciation to the Creator for blessing me with the ability to compose, perform, and record music.

America, To Be or Not To Be?

The Republicans still are in control. The initiative of the political campaigns leading up to November 2012 elections should be regaining control of the House of Representatives. The Democrats need 25 seats to regain a majority of 218 out of 435 seats. This is reasonable.

Recently President Obama said there was no easy fix to rising oil prices. This is the answer. Without Democratic control of both the Senate and House of Representatives, no successful economic legislation is possible. Somehow the President pushed through a Health Care Reform. In pure Republican fashion opponents covertly urged judges on the state level to declare the legislation unconstitutional. This is prime example how the Republican party works. This is how George W. Bush won the presidential election in Florida against Al Gore. (It is interesting the insightful and telling HBO movie “Recount” about the event remains cloaked.) Republicans manipulate the system in their favor with a savvy and thorough understand of the law. It doesn’t hurt their party was privy to the inception of some of the legislation. Much like negotiating a successful contract, it helps when you design it. If Democrats would step up to the plate and embrace the intimate relationship with the law in America, they would have a better chance. If you can’t win with the preexisting rules, then change them. This is how winners are made no matter how unscrupulous. The task first is to win back the House.

The rhetoric on television is so spun it is difficult to hear the truth. No one really knows what anyone thinks, and the immediacy of digital news media is to blame. Any sound bite that is “dropped” is exaggerated in pure immediate gratification. It would be best to turn off the television and read a newspaper. Gaming philosophy is not appropriate for news coverage.

An example of healthy television network competition lies in the production of these show.

Arts and Entertainment- Storage Wars, Flip This House

The History Channel- Pawn Stars

The Discovery Channel, The Learning Channel- Orange County Choppers

HGTV- Holmes on Homes

Animal Planter- River Monsters

These shows exemplify American ingenuity and integrity with no spin. It is no mystery they rate high for the Nielsen Corporation. These are reality shows at their finest, and each network has conceptualized a production formula that works for their aesthetic. Somehow in the midst of a plural stage, they are able to integrate a singular viewpoint giving heart to the situation. Telling a story with a formula works, as long as you understand the formula. Jerry Seinfeld might have been the first star of the TV Sit-Com formula. While the vehicle has been around many more decades, Seinfeld openly explored and utilized this small form. What can you do in 22 minutes to present a comedic exposition, develop it, and provide often a sentimental denouement to end? This tried and true formula is not really a formula, or is it? Formulas are crucial, as they represent the very humanity of man. They are time-tested vignettes reinforcing what man has learned over the centuries. They can change as the evolution of jazz has shown. Also they cement the humanistic premises of man. Currently with the instability of America’s political and economic structures, there is nothing to represent these complex and often chaotic existences. Pop music knows this, because the world of commercial music yet has offered an artist with the ability to understand, synthesize, and creatively comment on America. Bob Dillon and Joan Baez had a better go of it. There is no escaping the influences of Islam and Eastern-based musics. As jazz showed with its nurturing of the Avant-garde, America’s pop music will have to open itself to Abstract Expressionist ideals. Traditional tonality must be expanded bursting the commercially built bubble of tertian happiness. American’s fully are capable of experiencing stark, real, meaningful life issues cold turkey of the anodynes of popular television. They are waiting, as we are waiting for oil prices to drop.

Is it Live or Memorex?

After accidentally watching a snippet of the television “news show” Nancy Grace, I was shocked to hear a fabricated phone call intended to be an actual call from a menacing killer. It almost slipped by me. First I wondered how her program could have gained access to a private phone call. Blatantly then I remembered past President George W. Bush’s unconstitutional wiretapping legislation. It expired a few times. After Congress let it slip into oblivion, Bush personally contacted wireless phone companies and demanded their records. Pressured by the ruse of the federal government they obliged. Maybe it wouldn’t be so difficult for Ms. Grace to call Verizon and ask for a recording of a personal voice mail. It wasn’t a voice mail. It was an actual call. Then I realized it must have been a “dramatization.” These are rampant on television today. Drama is a large portion of television’s programming. The bothering thing was that although many people know shows of her type are meant for entertainment, it blurs the boundaries between actual news reporting and television fodder. For a brief moment I was confused. Was this a real news show, or was it a sitcom? Ms. Grace said the call was authentic. She said it was the actual call. Then a bogus voice over repeated the words of the culprit. It was done so poorly no one could believe it was a real crank call. No one could believe it was a stalker. Was it? The issue in my mind could be representative of the entire media debacle unfolding around us today. Where are the boundaries? There seem to be none as the web appears on phones. Text appears on phones. You can pay your bills with a phone. It seems like almost any human need can be met by cross-platforming any wireless device. Is it a video game? Is it the iTunes Music Store? Many gaming companies’ goal ten years ago was effectively to disguise the boundary between real and cyber. Newspeak. Newspeak. Newspeak. Fabricating the news for political gain. Who can we trust? Who can we believe? I can’t even look at the news anymore. It one more rogue African or Egyption nation launches a rebellion or attempted coup, my head will spin. It is not uncommon, but like television it is a vying for top media time. I thought I never would say it, but Rupert Murdoch’s NewCorp actually upped the bar for news reporting. After lobbying fiercely to regulate Internet news reporting or make it a pay service, annotations of source have begun popping up in news articles online. This is a good thing. The Internet is the bubble of American freedom. Slowly we will see its emancipation quashed by corporate America, but amazingly lawmakers still are protecting its anonymity. Still in my mind I tell myself I can’t believe anything. The “spin” factor is in effect, and I have forgotten it. Mr. Obama says there is no easy fix for rising oil prices. There is. All of the corporate deregulation that has occurred over the last four decades could be reversed. The gouging could be stymied. That’s an easy fix. He must have been referring to the continuing stalemate in our federal government. In the last minutes before a government shutdown, the democrats and republicans reached a compromise. Mr. Obama could not have a government shutdown on his watch. Was that real or was it a “dramatization?”

The Current Shite State

The cobwebs in my mind are getting dense. It feels like I am getting dense. The television news is so negative it is difficult to follow. Should I feel guilty for not conceding to the lowest level of human suffering? Today is Maundy Thursday, the day of Jesus’ Last Supper with his Apostles. Certainly His crucifixion is worthy of our utter empathy. We know Easter Sunday is a day of epic celebration of the rising of Jesus Christ from the dead. Toeing the line between mania and depression, between utter sadness and glee, or between death and life is a delicate balancing act. Without the enlightenment of the concept of human loss there can be no real soul. As we attempt to keep our heads above the rising water of what seems to be an impending end of the world, where is the healthy balance between religious conscience, artistry, and humanity? Is it appropriate like some affluent World War ll era families to ignore the bombs reigning down and continue to celebrate life? Is it more appropriate to become sullen, introverted, and laden with guilt at the thought of pursuing human happiness? The death of Jesus in Christianity always was meant to provide its soul. Jesus’ sacrifice by his Father was meant to be the quintessential example of Christian love. Still it seems the bulk of humanity seems not to be cognizant. When Time magazine publishes in issue questioning the integrity of Christianity, America is in trouble. When we abolish scripture from public building and monuments we are in trouble. When we abolish prayer in the classroom, even on a menial level, we are in trouble. America cannot rely upon organized religions to provide her piety. One only has to remember the fall of the Holy Roman Empire. Only has to remember the massive financial settlement of the Catholic Church attempting to cover the dirty penises of their pedophiliac and homosexual priests. It is an atrocity. What also are other American atrocities? The continual preening of an over-extended military deployed thousands of miles away in a country whose political importance is unbeknownst to most Americans. The continual subsidizing of these soldiers in an attempt to cover their war wounds both physical and psychological. The allowance of the oil industry and Wall Street to drive up the price of crude oil to line their own pockets. This is where leadership is called into play. There is a huge hypocrisy brewing in America, and the epithets keep flying. The only way to lance the cyst is to cognitively understand the presence of these unacceptable issues and attempt to find logical solutions. The conversation between current Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and past Secretary of State Henry Kissinger on Charlie Rose’s television program was a start. It seems after several years of floundering without an appropriate public persona, the ghost of Madeleine Albright as risen. Hillary is beginning to recognize and understand her role with the emergence of the Egyptian coup. The centuries old Israeli Palestinian conflict was a bit much to conquer on her first term. Past President Bill Clinton cut his teeth on the Bosnian conflict, so there is a history of success in their genes. No one is more capable of steering corporate America in the right direction than Mr. Obama. Unless he steps up to the plate and deals with the oil industry, it would seem America is on the brink of her own coup. Americans seem unwilling to sacrifice their personal automobiles. It will take a massive effort from somewhere to propose and begin to implement a socioeconomic change downgrading the cash cow of the automobile. Oil companies do not want this. Also the ridiculous Socialist construct of the American Military Complex must be restructured and reduced. B.R.A.C. or Base Realignment and Closure is not working. From first hand experience in Fayetteville, North Carolina our town completely is incapable of handling yet another influx of G.I.’s. The urban sprawl all ready has overtaxed roads. With our federal government's immediate axing of federal highway funds, how will America’s current transportation infrastructure maintain? If villages, towns, and cities continue to build a system with reliance on the automobile, how will American’s ever make the change? The decades long squeeze of the oil industry on our federal government has to be loosened for a change to take place. Otherwise Americans simply will continue to go into debt fueling their cars. Maybe another energy crisis is necessary to provide that soul to the American people. As no one seems to remember, there were automobiles being produced in early l980’s that were capable of achieving 70 miles to the gallon. Where are they? Do any of the new hybrids accomplish this? Obama needs to step up to the plate. The current state of affairs completely is unacceptable.

Pop is Not

If pop music indeed has a “rebound,” the major qualification of swing music, then how does pop differ from jazz? Ask any smooth jazz artist. I never have listened to smooth jazz. Why would I want to? After being reared only on the best jazz/fusion, why would I resort to listening to a derivative product? It is the same question. Smooth jazz arose in the late l990’s as an adult contemporary alternative to the intellectually demanding and sometimes spiritually yearning genre of mainstream jazz. Because the blues are a major component of mainstream jazz, the “blues” feeling often is present in the realization of jazz music. Pop music is different because, although it does “rebound” like swing, it does not possess a similar underlying feeling. Instead pop music attempts to create an artificial euphoric feeling that substitutes for what normally would be a deeper message in the music. Erroneously this superimposed feeling of glee is construed to originate from the instrumental performance. In reality it emanates from the “Pop Artist.” It is the perfect vehicle for their self-indulgence. The instrumental accompaniment intends to be superficial, patronizing, and vain. Therefore pop music is not about the music. It is about the performers and their audience. This insincerity never will place the genre of pop and consequently smooth jazz in the artistic realm. The underlying feeling of pop is the glorification of us. It is a show. It is “Showbiz.” Pop never will be a platform for moving a consensus of spiritual, social, or philosophical ideas. Technically why is pop impotent? In addition to an underlying feeling not being present, there is no rhythmic clave. The pop groove, emanating from the casual strumming of an acoustic guitar, contains no rhythmic pattern of note. When theoretically analyzed this strumming pattern is nothing more than a repetitive serialization of 8^th notes played both ahead and behind the beat. Can two 8^th notes pulled toward one another over the pulse be considered a rhythmic clave? The answer is no. It does create a tension, a stroke and a rebound, but it is not a rhythmic pattern indicative of other more tradition styles of music. Popular dance forms, i.e., a rhythmic pattern that coincides with dance steps, are better examples of “clave.” In Latin music “clave” often is restricted to a definition of a 2/3 or 3/2 rhythmic pattern in salsa music. I use “clave” in a broader sense to define a rhythmic pattern of any origin. The verbal incantation of the dance the Cha Cha, “One, Two, Cha, Cha, Cha,” probably is the most recognizable. There are many. Understandably pop music is not dance music, and that is why it fails in any more demanding venues. For music to stand the test of time and persevere, its content must be substantial enough to move listeners on its on. When the performer is dead, who then will carry the torch?

Barry's Gordy's Motown Groove

If the common garden sprinkler is not swinging with its, “Tch, tch, tch” what does swing? The history and definition of “swing” in music and academic circles always has been hotly contested. Most easily swing should be defined as music with a “rebound.” The “pop” music groove has a rebound of sorts and like Rock ‘n’ Roll both swings and is straight at the same time. This could be the reason it has risen to prominence recently in the commercial world of music. Although fervently I hate playing in the pop style, because it requires a lessening of academic piano technique, I will give credit where credit is due. I enjoy listening to piano players who are adept at this style. Analytically I can realize the music has no inherent groove of its own, but it accomplishes a feel if purveyed by the right musicians. James Taylor would be the prime example of a pop artist. That groove he chooses to play is concrete and tangible in a very elusive way. The touch required to play pop is specific, but it is the antithesis to playing R&B, Hip Hop, and Soul music. The difference is pop music uses a loose, quick, ahead-of-the-beat touch and uses amplification to achieve its groove. R&B, Hip Hop, and Soul use a heavy touch in the center or behind the beat most easily personified by the playing of Motown bassist James Jamerson. Affectionately he was called the “Hook” because, instead of using two or three fingers in quick succession to articulate linear phrases on the strings of the electric bass, he only used one. The spacing of the notes resulting from only repetitive plucks from the same digit created the unique feel of the music. That of itself could be the qualifying definition of a Motown groove. Motown is a pop groove in the sense that it does not use the keyboard concept (a similar single hand repetitive attack) to supply groove. It uses a derivative rhythmic concept from soul and R&B, because each and every note is not essential to the feel of the song. The groove is “stretched” over the top of what would be an authentic soul or R&B groove. The deepening of the groove via accentuation of individual notes and phrasing in a non-repetitive way would create the original grooves from which Motown borrowed. Jamerson, in this somewhat limited but specific rhythmic concept, was able to provide enough soul but not too much to be palatable by white radio listening audiences of Motown. It could be said this groove, pioneered, chosen, and shaped by Barry Gordy, was the magic that made Motown Records successful. I for one never listened to Motown music as a child. As a keyboard player the feel of guitar-based music didn’t communicate to me. I was invited and tried several times to play in Allman Brothers cover type bands, but the music always was lacking to me. Instead my first vinyl record was of the Jeff Lorber Fusion. Here was an iconic jazz/fusion band that satisfied both my musical intellect and my need for keyboard-based groove. How would I know decades later this acquired taste would come back to haunt me as a professional musician?

Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, and Personal Musical Reflection

After a recent local symphony concert I found it odd I felt off balance, because I did not know how to pronounce the concertmaster’s name or know his country of ethnic origin. Likewise after not reading the program notes, in particularly ones relating to Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6, the Pastoral Symphony, again I felt off balance. As a composer myself almost possessing a D.M.A. in Composition from the Ohio State University, I remembered the necessity of “program notes” as a tool for selling your piece. While the composer tolls countless hours (“The piece lives in the time it takes to compose”) inside the piece, an unknowing audience has had no time with the piece before its first hearing. This raised a question in my mind for the first time as a listener. Also with countless of hours listening and studying music, I once never entertained the thought of having to listen, absorb, and understand a piece of music from an musically uneducated point-of-view. Because my entire life I have dedicated myself to the study, composition, and performance of music, I never would allow myself to listen to music without a myriad of preparatory information. This concert was different. Because I have been at sea for nine years, it has been nine years since I have heard any kind of concert. Isn’t that strange? I have been making my living as a professional pianist but not have had one opportunity to hear live music in a concert setting. This is an atrocity! When you perform music full-time as a vocation, it must be your interest in music declines. Your ears become tired, and the magic once that could be found in an inspired musical performance dissipates into the air like an early morning fog. It becomes rote like any other job. When I leave the ship job, my only desire is to escape the musical environment not only to rest my mind but my body. Performing music is mental prowess. Yes you must have the necessary learned physical technique, but performing music comes solely from the mind. The heart is involved but without the mind music performance would be impossible. It is a highly engaging combination of parameters that allow a quality musical performance. Unluckily a ship job ignores many of them. They provide you a “click track” to keep the time. They also provide you with pre-recording backing tracks in case you cannot play your part. In short it is not a real life music-making environment, but it pays the bills. At my first symphony concert in more than ten years I was surprised to be at a disadvantage. I was in my hometown, but a hometown of many years past. I was listening to a group I had heard before, but also not for many years past. I was listening in an auditorium in which I had performed numerous times at a college that now was a university. Ironically the Chairman of the Department of Music at this University and I shared the same doctoral advisor at Ohio State almost fifteen years ago. He completed the degree, but I did not because of affecting medical needs. That is why I began working for the cruise lines after my surgeries. I needed to make money from music, not spend it. Listening to both the Beethoven Pastoral Symphony and Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in this setting was unbalancing. While alone I know I have a wealth of historical musical knowledge stored in the recesses of my brain, in this setting I was transmuted back to my childhood prior to the events that molded my now professional life. Being in one’s hometown inevitably demands you again become a child surrounding by antiquated unchanging memories. It could be the prime example of “Nature vs. Nurture” with your surroundings demanding you once again submit to your uneducated youth. As with all sentimental occurrences one believes a strong defensive cognition should not be required to healthily survive. That is not the case here. Society, or rather the geriatric class of Americans never in my experience transfer the balance of power to their younger social class. They wield it competitively until they are dead. That humorously is the only time a young person can acquire a lucrative and fulfilling orchestral job, when a geriatric dies. Thus America is presented with again a continual dilemma about her future. Without an investment in her younger generation, how will the power and integrity of a once affluent country be ensured? While I was not thinking about this as I listened to this symphony concert, I was thinking about how disconnected I felt. I knew quite a bit about the music, and as I challenged myself to enjoy the concert it was necessary to engage my mind. Then I began asking myself without my cognitive reflective process could I enjoy the music? Without an understanding of harmony, form, rhythm, and style could this music communicate with me? A popular adage concerning jazz music is that you do not have to understand it. You only must be able to “feel” it. This throughout life has been a crucial part of my own philosophy of music. I would not be involved with music composition or jazz improvisation, unless I could express my own internal experiences and feelings. That is my sole inspiration for musical composition. In former years one always feels a need for acceptance by one’s peers, but in time that necessity dwindles with one’s own faith in America’s cultural society. Lastly you compose because it is meaningful to you. Isn’t this the best method? Charles Ives sold insurance to make a living thus protecting his own compositional musical aesthetic. Without this attitude the need to be commercially successful surely will take over, and the pure, quintessential, artistic compositional aesthetic will be lost. As I listened to Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6, I could not help but be surprised. While fully understanding Beethoven was a composer of the classic period, what I was hearing sounded romantic to me. The dates l780-l790 surface in my head as being the height of the “Classic Period” in music history, yet this symphony sounded like Brahms to me. Then it began to sound more like Aaron Copland’s Rodeo. It was “pastoral” I though to myself, so how does a composer achieve such a feeling? The melodic themes because of the time period were diatonic. The chromaticism of Wagner and the “Romantic Period” were still years away, but Beethoven was a visionary. His Grossa Fugue pushed the classical tenants of composition also alienating him from some in traditional Austrian society. This is what I liked about Beethoven. He was one of my favorite composers. Upon listening to this particular work my pre-conceived notions about Beethoven were being challenged. First the pure bravura of Beethoven was altered with the theme of a “Pastorale.” There were folk elements that seemed to drive the work. “This is unusual for Beethoven,” I thought to myself. How far is Ireland from Vienna? The triple meter and almost Scottish “snap” motive meant I could be listening to an Irish Jig. One movement labeled Andante sounded like a Johann Strauss Waltz. “That was a little more plausible,” I thought. While these elements certainly were different than the Egmont Overture or Eroica Symphony of which I knew, certain telltale Beethoven devices were in play. His accompanying countermelodies and pizzicatos in the low strings came and went. “Ah, that I recognize!” Only once though through the devices of “Sturm Und Drang” was his traditional classic aesthetic heard. It came as the thunder I later found out after reading the program notes. Beethoven successfully pushed his own composing dynamic with the Symphony No. 6. In retrospect after the drama of the 5^th Symphony this piece would be a logical reaction to such bravura. The Romantic treatment of this orchestra disguised the true nature of what I knew to be Beethoven, but that was okay. I was feeling almost sickly sweet from a man known to be confident, pompous, and arrogant. Other themes seemed to be pushing toward the Romantic Period, so that also was okay. What I heard in Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 was similar. There were a slate of musical ideas reaching out to many time periods, ethnic backgrounds, and composers. Synthesizing them is the key and both pieces adequately achieved that goal. With only two pieces on the program, I experienced a wide range of musical ideas. With my own personal musical discomfort came a challenging of my own knowledge. Similarly to what happens in a ship band, you are not battling your own demons. You are battling the perceptions of others.