Re: looper vs storyteller. if there even is

[Daryl Shawn <highhorse@mhorse.com>]

Without getting too esoteric, I hear all music as having a story. 
Instrumental music is a more loosely defined story than music with 
words, and it's much more subjective, but it's there. It's why I've 
always found it easy to name instrumental pieces; I just listen for a 
bit and I hear the story develop, which is often both visual and 
emotional, then it's just a matter of choosing the best title to 
describe it, same as if I had written a novel.

In music there are conflicts, resolutions, climaxes, denouements, even 
characters and plot development to my mind. I've found this to be true 
even when listening to someone improvise a solo, if they know what 
they're doing. Pat Metheny, Bill Evans and Keith Jarrett come to mind as 
some players who are especially descriptive storytellers in improvisation.

Daryl Shawn
www.swanwelder.com
www.chinapaintingmusic.com

> But what do we mean when we say that an abstract instrumental peice of 
> music tells a STORY!! It can't really, can it? Can there be meaning in 
> an improvisation?? Is there meaning in a composition? What is the 
> meaning with "green onions" or Bethovens 5th or Kind of blue. A story 
> needs meaning, doesn't it??