Modern Technology

When you jump down the musical rabbit hole, you never really know where you're going to
end up.  In this case I landed smack in the middle of Afrobeat Street, which is more like the alley somewhere between latin music and hip-hop, with a peculiar nod to 70's funk.  But I swear either myself or one of my ancestors were born in this minor thoroughfare even though it wasn't nameduntil the early 2000's.  

I found the Daktaris shortly after Setenta.  It's not really latin like the gang from Setenta, but it sure is funky! Plenty of groove drumming, and hints of layered percussion underlying the whole thing (claves, shakers, blocks, handdrums, etc).  Over half the songs are instrumental, with a lot of play back and forth between saxophone, flute, and trombone.  When the singer is doing his thing, it's a decidedly thick African accent he's speaking to you
with.  Freaked my system out to hear him talk about "technology" in all long "o" sounds.  Also, these songs are political and philosophical; there was a lot of thinking and life positioning going into the lyrics, for sure.  

While this isn't my chosen music to play the congas to, the rhythmic fantasticness is undeniable.  This rates way up there on the cruiseability scale, and if they were in town in need of a drummer or backup clave player or whatever, I'd be there in a second.  Shoot, even if they just needed a dancer to be doing some gyrations while they play, I'd do it!  

Setneta- Funky Tumbao

In May 2011, Kisha and I were getting ready to leave for the Dominican Republic.  I didn't really know what people were listening to in the DR, so I decided to just go for anything remotely Latin.  What I found was exactly that; Latin enough to play songs somewhere between clave time and 4/4, but not really your typical salsa band.  Some of the lyrics are in Spanish, but since the band is based in Paris, there were also some songs in French and English.  What struck me about this album was how much fun it was to listen to.  I initially wanted to play the drum kit to these songs, but never really tried it out due to a lack of place to play.  The groove is undeniable, and I would just cruise around with this disc in the car with a huge smile on my face, bopping to the music to the delight of some of the other drivers that I encountered.  Cruiseability is a total requirement for good music, methinks.



I remember coming across a pair of green congas in the music room at SCS, the school that graciously employed me, and wishing I could play like Setenta.  I think that's when I first though about realistically playing hand percussion.  I dabbled with a pair of congas back at ONU when I was playing alongside Kevin Jones, but it had been a real long time since I did more than super-basic djembe stuff.  All of a sudden I wanted to play that funky tumbao!  This was step 1 in breaking loose, moving ahead, and learning new music.



If you like collecting good music, these guys are great!  Their second albom, Latin Piece of Soul is also good, but I have some reservations about some of the songs on the newer album.  I can honestly say I love everything on this first latin/soul/jazz album, though!  Check it out!

Musical Growth

I think there are times in everyone's life there are times when we feel stuck, like we can't move forward and grow.  It takes something outside of ourselves to break things loose, to change our perspective and position so we can learn new things.  Such has the case been for me recently.  I felt like I was completely stuck in music, playing the same things I used to play in high school 15 years ago on the guitar, not having very many people to get together with and jam, and knowing the whole time that I would never improve until something pushed me.

These past few years have been quite a change for me.  I encountered some music that is a lot different than anything I listened to before, and I've started playing different instruments.  Though my wife and I joke that I'm sometimes "Conga Crazy", it has been exactly what I needed to improve, progress, and break the cycle and boredom of doing the same thing over and over.   As is usually the case, my journey began by listening, hearing something that I think is awesome, and finding inspiration in the audio.  Over the next few days I hope to explore the sounds that I've found, and post some links on my timeline.  

Sunlight in the Trees

I really dig sunlight coming through the trees.  It has a feeling of warmth, even when it's not hot out, and at times I swear I can actually feel the photosynthesis happening as I stand beneath a tree that is easily 5 times my age.  I can almost hear the trees breathing as the golden sunlight finds its way through the changing position of the leaves, and I am reminded that as they breathe out, I breathe in.  As I breathe out, they breathe in.  The cyclical nature of our interaction with the universe is something that we should stand and behold, something to consider as we navigate about the planet.  These are, after all, the circles the divine has painted on our universe, our planet, our lovely country.  Our lives.  God is so close to us, such an integral part of this physical world, that when God breaths out, we breathe in.  When we breathe out, God breathes in.  Anything short of this interaction the the void, the abyss, some manner of black hole that only a true Trekkie can appreciate.  The spiral fingerprint of the divine twists and forms the galaxy, the swirling of stars and planets, the swirling of the leaves as they fall the mother.  The swirling, twisting twirl that we experience as we walk through life, meet the people we meet, vibe on the things we dig.  And I really dig sunlight coming through the trees...

Vibe On

Is there a difference between a recording of a tambourine and a computer-generated likeness of what a tambourine sound like?  Is there a discrepancy between a live drum kit and an electronic drum set?  Is there an inherent contrast between electric and acoustic guitars?  Of course there is.  Just like there is a difference between the sound of a baby grand and a $300 keyboard. Something special happens when we're playing an acoustic instrument.  There is a resonance no computer can emulate, vibrations pulsing from elements like wood and metal that wrap around us and stimulate something in our soul.  We have some manner of itch in our bones, in our very marrow, that gets scratched through sonic exploration.

Don't get me wrong, there are electric vibrations that can stimulate the soul as well.  It's just that we have the electric simulations in spades, coming from a myriad of digital sources.  Some of those sources are better than others, some more tastefully or artfully crafted to draw upon the almost spiritual thing that happens in the generation of sound.  We don't really have to go looking for the electric probes, but to find that acoustic resolution we must be intentional.  I'm gonna continue searching out the soulfully dynamic elements in this world, vibe on the goodness streaming from a spring that feeds our soul, and surf the curling waves of sound.  Vibe on, my friends, vibe on.

Humility

The call of Christ is a call to humility.  Many of you might find that a funny comment coming from me given some of my past attitudes and interactions, but I think it true.  It is impossible to read about Jesus without sensing the base humility of God. It is a base principal of theology, and it's a bit of a "rompa cabeza" (head breaker or puzzle) for us to think of an all-knowing, all-powerful God acting in any way humble. If there was ever a being who had the right to lord greatness over us, it'd be God. But there is something in the essence of God's being that bends toward humility, which is of course exemplified in the person of Christ. God pours out God's self, and so we find ourselves in the precarious position of wanting what we want but being compelled by God to put others first. It's all painfully foreign;We have to admit that there is a whole world/kingdom of things going on that we don't know everything about, a whole way of life that we have to learn.  And we have much to learn if we're to live "the spiritual life."

Know It All

"People who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do." ~Isaac Asimov

True on more levels than most of us want to admit. I have a co-worker who is constantly second guessing herself, never really sure if what she's doing is the proper thing to do, which of course makes for rather awkward interactions with the patients. I think it just has something do do with the way she's wired, cuz I'm wired TOTALLY opposite of that! I'm more in line with the above listed quote, finding myself often annoyed with people who are trying to come off like they know everything and then turning around and acting as if I know everything. It's something I've been working on over the years, but it's never gone away fully. That's because I really do know a lot of stuff!

The truth is we all have things we can learn, and it's more the process of learning that makes life go around. If we get ourselves into a place where we don't have to learn new things, we tend to get bored and repeat bad habits just to shake things up. That's so not how I want to be! I want to keep learning new things, and learn how to do the old things better. I want to be in the habit of coming to a challenge, figuring out how to deal with it, and find my way to the happy place on the other side of the issue.  If we stay in the practice of positive problem solving, our critical thinking muscles won't get flabby.  And who prefers flabby, honestly?

Veggetarious

"As a child my family's menue consisted of two choices: take it or leave it." ~Buddy Hackett

I mostly chose to take it! But not tomatoes. Never those. Nor did I particularly care for brussel sprouts or artichoke hearts. I am not, after all, southern by any stretch of the imagniation. There was a long while in my life when I pretty much didn't eat veggies unless they were soaked in soy sauce and stir-fried, but now I'm quite fond of the greenery. Cruciferuous vegetables are the rockstars as far as nutrients go, and I'm super fond of tuber and root veggies as well. I can eat yams ALL DAY LONG, and bell peppers make an appearence in my diet daily. Though I have a fantastic affinity for veggies in my adult life, I still can't dig a tomato that isn't sauced, and I think brussel sprouts smell like feet when you cook 'em. Yep.

The Snatches Done Snatched Away My Ability To Compse

It is at least entirely possible that FB is causing my lapse in note writting. Facebookland has me in the habit of writing short messages, and while some of these are packed with meaning, these little snatches make it such that I've not much to say in a slightly longer setting. I love the little zingers that I send out, and I feel all crafty and wonderful about how clever I was/am/will be, but I should totally be in the habit of writing more! Especially as I step back into the teaching world as an English sensei, it is my desire to lead by example. While I've never succesfully blogged over a long period of time, I shall make new my attempt to demonstrate decent writting. I cannot promise what I have to say is of any particular interest to... well... pretty much anybody. But then the name of my blog IS "Gaseous Admissions" afterall...