Finally: Monkeys, Improv, Zen

[Mike.Biffle@wj.com (Mike Biffle)]

>There's lots of Zen epithets that could be used to describe it: "Just 
>Sit", 
>"just don't know" or my personal favorite "shut the f*ck up & listen!!"
>Seriously though - being able to just hear sounds as they occur and 
>trusting 
>the sounds that you choose as a player has changed they way that I relate 
>to 
>much of the "free" music that I hear & perform.

Despite the stream of concepts and formal contructs which can help the 
execution
(no pun intended, but some may like that thought!) of free improv, this 
zen idea
strikes at the heart of free improv's emotional and spiritual validity for 
me.

After 36 years as a player in very many structured cover and original 
groups, 
I've become progressively less able to stay *attached* to music which has 
to be 
practiced and remembered to be enjoyed (or not) again. 

It's a great accomplishment and joy to present well thought out and 
polished 
performances, but it's getting harder and harder to stay committed to 
that. 
(It's true that there's plenty of practice on the technical aspects of 
ones 
playing as well as one's rig to support free-improv successfully as well.)

I've found with free-improv there's certainly the chance that the music 
could be
dreck, but often enought to give me faith, the music is startling, sublime 
and 
surprising... (It's usually during repeated listens to tapes when I 
realize just
how important this playing is to me...)

>peace,
>john

Thanks John,
-m