GiG
Last night was a lot of fun… playing guitar felt effortless – a rare and wonderful feeling.
The sound was perfect and yes, yes, I had a great time. Will do it again on December 30th, maybe with video slideshow (I might try to borrow a video projector and screen for that show, unless I decide to buy a projector – we are only renting that equipment for my upcoming solo tour to see whether the slideshow adds or distracts)…
I want to point out another show at GiG for locals who might read this:
GiG Performance Space-1808 Second Street, Santa Fe-SCHEDULE
Saturday, December 2nd, 2006
Transit Trio
8PM
Price: Suggested Donation $10 – $15
Jon will perform with a quartet, featuring Bert Dalton on keyboards, Ryan Anthony on drums, and Robby Rothschild on percussion. The new CD Transit2 will be available for purchase.
Touch the Sound and Happiness
I watched a wonderful documentary on DVD the other day: Touch the Sound – about the deaf Scottish percussionist Evelyn Glennie. (I recommend reading her wonderful Open Letter to Music Professionals!) The movie was photographed and directed by Thomas Riedelsheimer, who also directed the award-winning film Rivers and Tides about Andy Goldsworthy. Extraordinary and quite possible the most beautiful documentary…
Regarding my entry Comfort:Happiness
Adam Solomon Says:
Interesting…does that apply reciprocally, though? I can understand that comfort doesn’t lead to happiness, but does discomfort have a relation to unhappiness? I would certainly say so (temperature is a good example–do extremes in temperature not interfere with your mindset and your ability to concentrate on enjoying life? I would think it much harder to be happy, say, when you are parched in the middle of the desert), but then, perhaps that stems from a different idea from yours of what “happiness†is…
Comfort or discomfort are neither related to happiness nor unhappiness. Happiness is not conditional. If a person thinks/says that they would be happy if they only had this or that level of comfort, or maybe a particular mp3 player, computer, profession, life-style, house, lover, bank-account – they don’t know what happiness is. Happiness is not related to comfort or discomfort, it is not related to being thirsty, nor is it related to any possessions. I can tell you that there were mornings when it was absolutely freezing in my tent last month, but you should have seen the smile on my face. Sometimes I could barely feel my fingers because it was so cold… But, let me give a different example: Before we left for Tibet, Roshi Joan Halifax mentioned to us that the people of Tibet know a lot of pain, but they don’t seem to be suffering. We saw a lot of extreme pain, usually borne with dignity and often with a smile. You can be in pain, but not suffer, and you may suffer without being in pain.
Friday
Adam Solomon Says:
Oh no! I hope the hard drive is still safe? That must have been quite a scare, but one of the most important things, I’d imagine, is to make sure that the pictures, music, etc., remain safe.
With regard to the opening six solo shows, do you have any idea as to what the differences between them might be, with regards to day/time, knowing how you play over a night?
I would not leave a computer with a stranger without erasing the data on the HDD first. I use CMS software to backup my data and before I dropped off the laptop I erased the HDD and wrote zeroes over it. Because of the difference in operating systems (PowerPC G4 PowerBook versus Intel MacBook Pro) I won’t be able to restore from my backup. Instead I will have to bring the data in manually, which will take a little more time, but a spring-cleaning might be in order anyway.
Regarding the 6 shows at the Blue Note, I have no idea which might be better. Sometimes the first show is great, sometimes one relaxes more during the second show. Then there is the audience which is different from show to show and no small factor in the performance. The guitar itself can change depending on the humidity. The artist’s chemistry may change from sober during the first show to inebriated during the second show – and who knows which will be better. And one day the nails might have the perfect length and the next it’s just a little off… See this quote from Paco:
I could not live without the guitar, but at the same time this is no way of life, because it is such a difficult instrument, so ungrateful; you dedicate your whole life to it, hours and days, and suddenly you come up on stage, and that day you feel in perfect shape for playing, and still you don’t hit one single string right, and you cannot figure out why… it depends on so many things, on how long your fingernails are… I am talking about tenths of millimeters, and you ask yourself. What is going on? Where am I failing? And it could be a badly polished nail… it’s a f!@#er of an instrument.
Comfort:Happiness
We try to put buffers between us and the world, and as a result we feel less: We want plenty of heat in winter so we don’t feel the cold, but people in Japan, for example, keep their homes quite cold in winter and as a result get sick less. We want air-conditioning in Summer so we don’t feel the heat, but people in Singapore have permanent colds because it is 65 degrees inside and 110 degrees outside…
I could go on, but you get the picture. Living in denial of LIFE. Sickness and death can strike at any moment and it doesn’t matter how comfortable we are. Comfort has no relation to happiness.
In the spring, cherry blossoms.
In the summer the cuckoo.
In autumn the moon.
In winter the snow, clear, cold.
— Dogen Zenji
