Last night, after a slow day of listening to free jazz at the Places des Arts, I headed back to the festival solo to take in a late night set by The Bad Plus. And I was surprised to find how much I didn't resonate with their sound - mostly because it was too frenetic and almost anti-melodious. Individually these cats are phenomenal musicians - and I appreciated what they were doing intellectually - for they are true deconstructionists. What left me out in the cold, however, was the complete lack of beauty. There was passion and frenzy, there was chaos and the hint of order, but there was no place of rest and renewal in their music. Again, different strokes for different folks because the crowd of late 20/30 somethings LOVED them.
Don't get me wrong: I'm glad I took this set in - and I'll probably look for new ways to listen to this band. But at this moment in time they don't open my heart - and at 61 I am more and more a heart man. With whatever time remains I want to deepen my relationship to love and compassion. I want to increase beauty and hope in a challenging world. And I want to nourish peace making through my church and artistic work. Mako Fujimura put it like this
Jesus stated, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God." (Matthew 5:9) The Greek word for peacemakers is eirenepoios which can be interpreted as "peace poets" suggesting that peace is a thing to be crafted or made. We need to seek ways to be not just peacekeepers, but to be engaged as peace makers. In such a definitions, peace is not simply an absence of war but a thriving of our lives, where God uses our creativity as a vehicle to create the world that ought to be. Art, and any creative expression of humanity, mediates in times of conflict and is often inexplicably tied to wars and conflicts... the language of the arts translates the universal longing for peace into the tangible experience of the desire for peace.
Yesterday began by entering La Petite E'cole du Jazz - a performance teaching children the fundamentals of jazz - that was musically rich, visually satisfying and a whole lotta fun. By the end of the show, the kids knew how to clap on the back beat, groove to "Take 5" and engage both body and mind in the appreciation of a variety types of jazz. And here's the thing: the artists who put this gig together did so in a way that strengthened beauty and the bonds between people.
I am discovering that one of my artistic concerns has to do with the tension between community and artistic expression. While I have no energy for putting constraints on the movement of the Spirit, I also have come to realize that faith and art cannot be separated. Pure, individualistic creativity must not be separated from context or community lest we contribute to the fear, shame and selfishness of the hour. So I am attracted to music that brings me into relationship with my humanity, beauty and what I share with other people and cultures. Conversely, I am less and less interested in music that is mostly an exercise in isolation. And while I adore the experience of wild and bold improvisation, once again I yearn for it to take me into deeper communion rather than just on a solitary voyage of the mind.
In this, I prefer the creativity of the Cinematic Orchestra - genre benders extraordinaire - to Ravi Coltrane. And while I appreciate what both Coltrane and Bad Plus are doing as artists, I don't find myself going any place satisfying with their music.
That's why I have long been a fan of Sly Stone's song,Everyday People, wherein he reminds us that there are different strokes for different folks. So on this day of birthday chillin, we're off to do what these two different folks love best: meandering through books and music and tea in pursuit of something beautiful.
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