Relating to Lifting the Bandstand

  When I saw the aforementioned documentary and Steve Lacy said something like "our goal is to lift the bandstand", I related to it very much; my goal in playing music is for the moment (within myself, the music and for the audience) to reach a state of hovering or floating. 

I am sure you can relate as I think we have all been in at least one situation ( whether we are listening or playing at a concert  or similarly sitting at home ) where we are actually transported out of our usual frame of mind and into a place that has us deeply touched and in awe.

For me, the first part of this lifting or floating is when music reaches a state where it is resonating with and therefore moving one or many aspects of consciousness whether that be on an emotional, intellectual, physiological, spiritual or other-al  level. You could reasonably say that all music has the ability to do this, but I am not stopping here, as what I am getting has more to do with uplifting, refreshening [ making up words is fun ] and enlightening than it does mere entertainment or something that affirms some status quo.

Secondly, and more importantly is that the movement or resonance causes an opening; a new way of feeling, seeing, being within for those listening and playing. I will give you an example of this for me. A few years ago I was at an Uday Bhawalkar concert and I found the music so beautiful that it shifted me into a space of actually seeing the truth of me as light. Now that is pretty big, but this can be as simple as being really angry and tense about a break up with a boyfriend or girlfriend and you hearing a piece of music that moves you in a way that has you letting go of the tension and therefore freeing you up.

So, I see music mainly as a tool for communion an change in a way that includes but is not limited to entertainment.

Another interesting point is how musicians get to the point of lifting the bandstand which is more than ( but certainly includes ) what is usually referred to as being "In The Pocket" meaning somehow deliciously tight and together. For myself, for music to get there, I need to be sensitive to the fine threads or points that are happening in the music ( in the pocket-ness? ), which I find has me constantly adjusting myself and my sound to accommodate that. As musicians, with what is arising in the moment, we are both constantly moved by what is happening and we are taking that movement and doing something with it; using it to bring the creation into form. As an aside, I find this is the most true in improvised music ( I'll have to blog on this one later ).

When each musician is sensitive to the thing that is arising and is concerned with bringing it into form, then the music really soars, and if the audience is there too, it can be a truly intimate experience. 

 

" ... We have fallen into the place where everything is music ... Open the window in the center of your chest and let the spirits fly in and out" - Jallaluddin Rumi