tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4640470443420164863.post5709534729378401812..comments2024-03-26T10:26:51.288-04:00Comments on Jim Leff's Slog: Authority Vs. CreativityJim Leffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00007232702717055047noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4640470443420164863.post-2136788742649925032010-10-10T12:02:20.181-04:002010-10-10T12:02:20.181-04:00------
"you'd think a bluegrass ensemble ...------<br />"you'd think a bluegrass ensemble would KILL for a non-assertive trombonist honeying things up."<br />------<br /><br />No, no....the leader was genuinely, sincerely, excited to have me, and appreciative of what he'd heard me do. But the essential thing is, just as I referred to my "temptation", he was done in by the same. <br /><br />I should have bolted right after I'd heard that preamble....and never should have gotten excited about the big gig, the big star, the big everything. It was the trap of "trying to DO something with this", and it's a trap I've fallen into time and again. Better to concentrate on beauty, and remain oblivious to all the other <br /><br />The bandleader, by contrast, fell into the trap of feeling like this was a really IMPORTANT gig, and therefore the situation called for tight control. And you'd have felt and done the same. Do you really think you're cool enough that, in a career make/break moment, you could be all spontaneous and loosey/goosey?<br /><br />Me? I'm intentionally avoiding such moments. I just want to play thoughtful notes. Though sometimes I get caught a little, as I did here. It was just the slightest bit of grasping on my part, but the universe, exasperated by having to teach me the same frigging lesson multiple times, is lately on hair-trigger. <br /><br /><br />------<br />"in indian classical music, the highest achievement is to be a singer - a sitarist, for example, would probably have to wait for re-incarnation before getting there."<br />------<br /><br />Yeah. But, of course, the reason we're all still reincarnating (i.e. mucking around in this never-ending dream) is that we're thinking in terms of achievement, and trying to "work up the ladder". You can get rich or laid like that, but you certainly can't get off the treadmill! <br /><br />Looking, to just a teensy degree, for "achievement" is what caused this particular knee to the groin for me........and, to a much less subtle degree, for the bandleader (who certainly didn't get the desired result).Jim Leffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00007232702717055047noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4640470443420164863.post-44278939602885912392010-10-10T09:38:27.555-04:002010-10-10T09:38:27.555-04:00good grief. you'd think a bluegrass ensemble w...good grief. you'd think a bluegrass ensemble would KILL for a non-assertive trombonist honeying things up. you can't command that.<br /><br />and on the trombone-as-prosthetic: in indian classical music, the highest achievement is to be a singer - a sitarist, for example, would probably have to wait for re-incarnation before getting there.joshinoreply@blogger.com