There are those who get it and those who never will.
There are also those who have the potential to understand.
Really, it doesn't matter because when it happens, I feel like the only person there anyway...it feels so personal and deeply meditative that I don't really care who else is getting it or not, though there is a powerful bond when you know someone else felt it possibly as intensely as you. In the end, how they feel it and what they do with it is different anyway, and its such an internally moving experience that if I'm the only one getting it, well then hey, that just makes it all the more powerful.
What I'm talking about is a ridiculous jam: harmonic layering, dynamic building, escalating evolution of a song played live in all its improvisational and instrumental chemistry induced glory. It can be described as "mind blowing", or an "out of body" experience, usually results in head shaking, wide eyed disbelief. And often, though of course the first time is always the most powerful, the awe never wears off no matter how often the recording is listened to.
Bands I've heard do it best? The Grateful Dead, Railroad Earth, Phish, Dave Matthews Band (i have to admit), Bela Fleck and The Flecktones, the Waybacks, Oysterhead, New Monsoon, Keller Williams, Umphrey's McGee, and Widespread Panic. I'm sure all my musically educated readers could add generously to this list. The talent of these musicians and the pure chemistry that exists between them to communicate between each other musically and creatively is nothing short of awesome beauty.
There are people who can't even listen to jams, because, much like jazz, they don't get the often less structured approach. That in itself is much of what makes it great...it feels like the band is just jiving on the same wavelength, they are letting the MUSIC dictate the direction. Many times the songs end up being very long, and a lot of people lack the patience, are used to happy radio songs that are sped up to squeeze into four minute spots leaving room for the ads and the crappy talk that pollute the airwaves. The song may take a while to heat up...that is all part of it, whether being done intentionally or unintentionally by the band, to add to the trance, to fold you into the music, to build the suspense...and people don't understand how patience will be rewarded but more importantly...enjoy the evolution, let yourself feel the pulse in your body, let the music flow through and around you, and it will change your experience. Most importantly, drop expectation! Don't sit there trying to figure it all out, waiting for the big moment or for the band to bust out, just be it and feel it, and let IT be what it is. Let it be a wonderful surprise!
The bottom line is that it feels spontaneous, it doesn't feel rehearsed or predictable, is an EXPERIENCE to behold, and, for me, anyway, is a suitable soundtrack to musically define the free feeling I enjoy and cultivate as the backbone of my life's meaning.
What I'm talking about is a ridiculous jam: harmonic layering, dynamic building, escalating evolution of a song played live in all its improvisational and instrumental chemistry induced glory. It can be described as "mind blowing", or an "out of body" experience, usually results in head shaking, wide eyed disbelief. And often, though of course the first time is always the most powerful, the awe never wears off no matter how often the recording is listened to.
Bands I've heard do it best? The Grateful Dead, Railroad Earth, Phish, Dave Matthews Band (i have to admit), Bela Fleck and The Flecktones, the Waybacks, Oysterhead, New Monsoon, Keller Williams, Umphrey's McGee, and Widespread Panic. I'm sure all my musically educated readers could add generously to this list. The talent of these musicians and the pure chemistry that exists between them to communicate between each other musically and creatively is nothing short of awesome beauty.
There are people who can't even listen to jams, because, much like jazz, they don't get the often less structured approach. That in itself is much of what makes it great...it feels like the band is just jiving on the same wavelength, they are letting the MUSIC dictate the direction. Many times the songs end up being very long, and a lot of people lack the patience, are used to happy radio songs that are sped up to squeeze into four minute spots leaving room for the ads and the crappy talk that pollute the airwaves. The song may take a while to heat up...that is all part of it, whether being done intentionally or unintentionally by the band, to add to the trance, to fold you into the music, to build the suspense...and people don't understand how patience will be rewarded but more importantly...enjoy the evolution, let yourself feel the pulse in your body, let the music flow through and around you, and it will change your experience. Most importantly, drop expectation! Don't sit there trying to figure it all out, waiting for the big moment or for the band to bust out, just be it and feel it, and let IT be what it is. Let it be a wonderful surprise!
The bottom line is that it feels spontaneous, it doesn't feel rehearsed or predictable, is an EXPERIENCE to behold, and, for me, anyway, is a suitable soundtrack to musically define the free feeling I enjoy and cultivate as the backbone of my life's meaning.
off to some double banjo bonanzaing :)
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