Current musings in Vermont

I'm up in Vermont this weekend for New Year's Eve festivities. Now, you all my know my dislike of christmas and most things that come with it, but you may not be familiar with my dislike of romantic comedies. I'm not going to explain why I dislike them, because this isn't the space for that, and really, isn't it obvious? Anyway, to avoid watching a combination of those two things (oh the horror of Love Actually) I'm being antisocial and listening to music in the loft.

Long ago Mr. H the 3rd lent me John Coltrane's Ascension. I just finished listening to Edition II, which seems to have been first on the CD. I enjoyed it thoroughly and am currently listening to Edition I. Now, I feel the need to write here in the context of having read this article linked to from aldaily earlier today. Perhaps that article is even what prompted me to take on such a lengthy listening exercise.

So yes, I listen to a lot of contemporary rock and such things that could be called pop. However, I like to think I also have the patience to actively listen to lengthy pieces. I really enjoyed this track which weighed in at 40'57". The thing that I'd like to comment about here is my (admittedly less than well educated) opinion about the construction of this music. Derek Bailey's life work aside, I understand that improve does not happen in a vacuum, and that this piece was performed by people with a context of working together, who likely had an overall feeling/plan/idea of what they would like to do in this particular span of playing.

What makes this music particularly challenging to me, is that I'm not sure this music was meant to be consumed. By that I mean I don't see it being performed for the purpose of having people listen to it passively. In having this arrangement of context rich musicians moving towards (or was it away from?) a general idea, I believe the conversation metaphor is most appropriate. Yes, there are ideas being passed back and forth and they all relate to each other in various ways, but the overall outcome cannot be known until the conversation has been had. This is akin to standing next to a group of fairly interesting people at a party, and purposefully eavesdropping on their conversation. There is no grand idea that the group as a whole is struggling to convey to a rapt audience, and most of the work seems to be done in spite of that audience. So yes, this is a challenge to me, and it takes patience, because I feel like I'm fighting to keep up with this organic evolution of the music, having only what is immediately present to assist in what to look for next.

In writing that last paragraph, I began to wonder, perhaps witnessing the struggle is what the performance is all about? Is this a group of people inviting you to watch them engage in an active process, and not to be as a witness to their storytelling? I could scrap the entry with this new observation, but I'll leave it in hoping it may foster future conversations. (More music theory research, or perhaps even the liner notes may stifle such wonderment on my part entirely, but I'm enjoying the naked speculation.)