Music that doesn’t exist yet.
A dear friend of mine, saxophonist Steve Treseler, got me thinking about the role that modern musicians play in a world whose ears have already reached the point of saturation. In his senior recital at New England Conservatory, Steve stated that one of his major goals was to "create music that doesn’t exist yet." At the time, I took this pretty literally, and assumed he said it because he’s an improviser, and that’s what improvisers do: spontaneously compose, invent, react, and perform new ideas. In the three years since we graduated from NEC, I’ve seen my musical life take on Steve’s idea, and in a way, it’s transformed itself into a mantra that characterizes nearly everything that I do. WAITIKI is a good entry-level example of this: although we market its music as being rooted in the principles of exotica music, it isn’t purely tiki music. As many others have pointed out, so many influences are clearly present: that of Frank Zappa, Maurice Ravel, pop culture, Federico Fellini, Michael Cain, etc. … not to mention, all the separate influences that each of our musicians (Tim Mayer, Brian O’Neill, Mikey Connors, Abe Lagrimas Jr) bring to the table.
On a deeper level, though, framing my practicing around the idea that I’m creating "music that doesn’t exist yet" helps me to stay focused on what I’m doing individually — in other words, it keeps me from comparing myself to others who are also classical bassists (or, musicians in general) in training. We each have our own talents, abilities, and perspectives to bring to the music that we create. Every time we set our bows to the string to play, or bring an instrument to our mouths, we are creating new music. Regardless of whether we are playing Bach or Shostakovich, Hindemith or Coltrane, Ravel or Martin Denny or an entirely new work.
Hey Randy, I’m honored that my recital program stuck with you! I believe what I actually said in my program was something like “I hear music that doesn’t exist, and I would like it to”. Creating something “new” is different than following your dreams and imagination. By following your vision, you will have a fulfilling musical life and not be intimidated by what the guy next to you is doing, or what the flavor of the week is. Hope the band makes it out to the Pacific NW again sometime soon!
Comment by Steve Treseler — 30 October 2006 @ 4:30 am
You are my one-of-a-kind bf, friend, and musician!
Comment by HB — 21 January 2007 @ 3:55 pm