ALL THE MORNINGS OF THE WORLD- JAZZ, RANT ETC

morning has broken [well, hours ago]- i got up @ 9AM despite not wanting or having to, the living room/kitchen windows fogged from the AC, which i have run on high since i got home. Even if it feels like a meat locker in the morning, i know it will be needed later in the day. I have my coffee on the couch and throw a sheet over me. my shroud. I am not adjusting from time zone, climate change, OR the hellish trip home.

i woke and made coffee, fed cat [s]: Barbra & the old Tom who hangs around outside. Domina is still MIA. although it was pleasant enough outside, i KNOW that will change by midday back to a furnace.  I'd like to put out some of the plants that i rooted before i went to EU, which are in pots on the patio and carport, before more/the rest of them die. BUT i may have to start setting my clock for dawn's early light, or before, so i can have time to wake up enough to function; i usually need a minimum of 2 hours of coffee, cigs, journal writing, or sketching, before i can function. i think any outside work will have to be done LONG before 10- 11 [dusk brings with it the vampire mosquitoes]- and anything needed doing during the day will have to be  "drive through"- and any shopping done at or after midnight. when i acclimate, i can maybe hang with it, somewhat, but... i have not left the house, since i got home, except to go turn on the AC in my other house. 

i have done no real physical work since i got home from europe. my shoulders hands knees are killing me not only from arthritis, but having to schelpp my heavy assed luggage in Alexandria- because there were no porters at the airport or hotel- that did not help; and passing out on the sofa, with Netflix running, every night, has my neck and body screaming. i need to move the tv to the bedroom, permanently, or sell it.

i did nothing but photograph and unpack my destroyed suitcase yesterday- which only fueled the anger that was dying down, somewhat. i havent begun scanning all the paperwork, or writing the letters, or uploading photos to be printed and sent with the letters, to the various people who need to be held accountable for the atlanta/alexandria/monroe fiasco. i'd put everything i didnt want broken in the Samsonite, thinking it would be safer than the cloth suitcase. wrong! the TSA in ATL pried it open, breaking the locks, and the buckles off the inside panel, tearing holes in it [the partition between the two sides], ransacked it, and 1/2 assed taped it back together. the other 1 is still waiting to be unpacked but i dont even want to go there. mercifully, i NEVER put any of my electronics in my suitcases; i put them in a big Migros plastic shopping bag INSIDE my carry on, so i can take it out when i go from monroe to atlanta [and vice versa] because they make you check anything that wont fit in the overhead bins of those crop dusters. i sat in ATL watching baggage handlers THROWING people's 'checked' carry ons, like garbage, out of the plane onto the belts. i learned that 'bag w/breakables' inside the carry on years ago. 

i'm still exhausted and feel i will be for a few more days, despite the fact that i have done little to nothing since getting home. i have not even begun picking up, straightening up, and cleaning the mess in the house, which is exactly as i left it. i don't know if it is the total change of geographical climatic place, but i am having a hard time doing anything. i have NO energy or will to move.  

i DID edit 2 more cds yesterday- so that makes a total of four solo piano cds, from this recent Swiss sanity salvation and sleep and recharge trip. i still have a whole day's recordings of multi track synth improvisations, i have to mix and edit into a cd; i thought i might add add more sounds- but i pretty much believe in leaving things as they were done; and even putting them on "albums" in the sequence in which they were created/recorded. i will probably just add effects and normalization- long delays and reverbs to further enhance the overall spaciness, dreaminess, psychedelia of it all. BUT i also have multitudes of solo piano and multi synth recordings from the last trip over, and even going back to 2009 [when i began recording improvisations with the acoustic upright in Switzerland]; not to mention ALL the electric piano tracks, i did last year into this one, which i'm still not finished with; they sound fine, but they don't ' breathe' like an acoustic piano does. and some that i did in 2008 are entirely too structured; like beds for vocals/lyrics. i am working backwards to edit and release the recordings; while going forward, creating more to be dealt with later.


before i left for switzerland i was watching a lot of documentaries on art/artists and photography/photographers- at night; i don't watch anything in the daytime; i work on my various arts during the day.  since i got home, i have been watching films on music/musicians [jazz/classical]- 2 films about glenn gould*, and 1 on bill evans*, but netflix is pretty limited- more commercial and mainstream than i care to be/see/hear.  so i've added fandor to my roku; guess i'll fall asleep to it for a change; at least see some global programs. i found those two* very interesting- especially gould- who, at the top of the fame game, quit performing and chose to only record, do radio shows and such. AND interesting to know he would record the same piece over and over, and then have his engineer cut and splice the best parts of the many takes [tapes] together. i wrote about that on FB- i think it's cheating- but i still find that [for the time] WAY ahead of its time; and unacceptable for a live studio recording. i don't agree with that concept, when it comes to live acoustic performances/recordings. But, before my "born again purist" religion began in the 2000's, i was guilty of doing the same thing, when necessary. in most recording situations nowadays it's de rigeur; nobody would bat an eye. even bill evans recording 3 piano tracks on "conversations with myself" [even using a frigging electronic piano for pete's sake] doesn't sit well with me.

like glenn gould who recorded in an abandoned & forgotten auditorium over a department store, when he went home to canada, i prefer rooms to studios- which aren't normal conditions in which to make music- they feel too sterile and too much like hospitals. the last 3 cds i/we did [changin' times; work that thang; traditional] were all done outside the normal studio environment, thank god. now if we could just do something about the world's 'smoking phobia'---but, electronic or multi tracked recordings? no problem, it's not 'real' anyway. cut and paste away. i was more interested in the way they thought, their philosophies, than they played; i don't know anybody who could touch either musically. it seems all artists who are truly dedicated to their art have the same angels and demons. they certainly had theirs. 
i seldom listen to music when i am at home, or anywhere, unless i am editing, or listening to playbacks, proofing my own. if i do listen to something, it is almost always piano: classical, jazz, or experimental improvisational solo piano work; or ravi shankar, alice coltrane, who've always inspired me. but in my daily monastic life, i prefer total silence; it is indeed golden, if not platinum or diamond [like delta skymiles members]. i need silence, peace and calm, and solitude to create and for me, the creative process is the all; the everything; creativity is my raison d'etre, my reason for being, and with each passing day it becomes more and more important, precious and sacred... especially in the last year and a half. it is and has been my salvation. 

improvisation has been, and is, very therapeutic, and very healing. in those moments when i am creating [and recording] i am working in a spiritual place, drawing from the infinite spring that feeds the bottomless cosmic, omni galactic well. creativity is a well that does not run dry; the more you draw from it, the more it replenishes itself.


from some of my rants about my solo projects, some people have been confused; have gotten the impression that i am going to stop performing, altogether. nothing could be further from the truth. i, like most artists, will work till i die [or CAN'T perform 'at my best' anymore]- it's what we DO.
lately i have been having a struggle between the artist and the entertainer in me. Artie Shaw - "An entertainer pleases others while an artist only has to please himself." i feel musically schizophrenic. i have been an 'artist' AND 'entertainer' all my life. i have never worked a 'straight' job. i can't say that it's always been easy; it hasn't been; but it is the choice i made. i have worked hard to be the best that i can be. i have been incredibly lucky- luckier than most- especially the last 2 decades when i have been blessed to finally have very good people around and working with me.



i've had a lot of time on my hands the past year and 1/2. a lot of time to think about my life, my work, and try to understand all that's happened; make sense of it; and try to decide what steps to take next. but there is no understanding; there are no answers; one just keeps going. i have withdrawn into solitude and contemplation; but then i've pretty much always been reclusive. i am only content when i am being productive, when i am creating, everything else- except for my close relationships with an ever diminishing circle of loved ones- is just, as Dorothy Parker said "this business of living"[also the title of caesar pavese diaries]

Nina Simone - "Music is a gift and a burden I've had since I can remember who I was."

Ira Gershwin - "Deep, unspeakable suffering may well be called a baptism, a regeneration, the initiation into a new state." 

 
i've never been one to suffer the shallow or the superficial [although i have done some musical prostitution gigs in my past, out of necessity]that seems to have magnified to the nth power, now. i cannot watch commercial television, listen to commercial radio, or watch commercial films, or even be around a lot of racket- and modern life is a constant din of racket. it's pollution to me. just as 'you are what you eat' you are what you absorb. I've grown to absolutely HATE pop "culture" in all it's many ugly forms. My house is normally so quiet i can hear the electric clock 'tick'- NOW the sound of the ceiling fans and AC just have to be accepted. but point being: i don't want any audio or visual pollution; no distractions of any kind. i'm not saying that what i am doing is profound or important to anyone but me- but it is what i am doing, and want to do, at the moment. mercifully, i have that luxury. and this paragraph was aimed at someone who asked me about 'inspiration' - you have to be quiet and succumb to it



John McLaughlin - "Music is born out of the inner sounds within a soul."
John McLaughlin - "All the music that was ever heard came from the inner silence in every musician."


On the business of music: i experienced the big time first hand, in my early 20s, in both Nashville and Hollywood. it lived up to jerry garcia's quote: the music business has nothing to do with music. after having a large part of my catalog/publishing stolen before i was even 21- i have been wary since. but obviously not wary enough; there was more and bigger theft to come. since then, basically, i've never compromised, never taken the easy way out; never chased fame or the dollar for the dollar's sake. art and commerce make strange bedfellows. artistic freedom and integrity have always been, and are, more important to me than fame and fortune [although i wouldn't mind more of the latter]- selling my soul to the devil[s]- i.e. labels/publishers etc. i am not giving up anything anymore!
  
In the past, i was making cds, with songs i'd written, aimed at some imaginary audience AND label. now i make a cd [cyber distribution] for myself, alone. if i like it, i release it. if other people like the music, that's great. if not, so what? at least i keep my rights, own and control my intellectual property. i'm thankful that cdbaby is there [even if it has been bought out and prices are being hiked to place cds]- as a global distributor- to distribute and make my music available for download worldwide; same thing with youtube- which i don't use enough. as steve miller said, on austin city limits, [paraphrased] "now that there are no record companies, i'm ready to make records" 

Wes Montgomery - "When I got pretty good I went on the road with a group. We starved." 

Wes Montgomery - "I never practice my guitar. From time to time I just open the case & throw in a piece of raw meat."

 

i guess the point of this rant [if there is/was one, other than too much coffee] was/is to address and maybe shed some light on some things people have recently asked me about, such as the performance thing, and my latest solo improv ventures. 

i wrote something on facebook last night about one of my favorite movies concerning music: "tous les matins du monde" = "all the mornings of the world", based loosely but closely on real people and events. i have written about it before; but was writing in response to a friend saying his musical inspiration had "hit an all time low" and talking about the MATH of music. although the music in the film is definitely based in the music of the time, and very mathematical, it is the underlying storyline about the deeper meaning of creating music which inspired, and inspires, me. granted, it is tragic, sad and depressing as hell, but so often, life is too.

Below are a million quotes i ran across and particularly like:

Bill Evans - "Despite the fact I'm a professional performer, it's true that I have always preferred playing without an audience." 

Bill Evans - "Art should teach spirituality by showing a person a portion of himself that he would not discover otherwise." 

Bill Evans - "I'm using the insides of sounds to move around in a very subtle way which, I think, ends up being inevitable." 

Bill Evans - "Keep searching for that sound you hear in your head until it becomes a reality."

John Coltrane - "My music is the spiritual expression of what I am: my faith, my knowledge, my being."

John Coltrane - "All a musician can do is to get closer to the source." 
Miles Davis - "Do not fear mistakes, there are none."  
Gary Burton - "Improvising musicians are musical travelers, voyagers. There is a freedom to wander the musical landscape."

Ornette Coleman - "The hidden things, the subconscious that lies in the body & lets you know: You feel this, you play this."

Charlie Parker - "They teach you there's a boundary line to music. But, man, there's no boundary line to art."  

Charlie Parker - "Master your instrument, master the music & then forget all that & just play." 

Joe Pass - "If you hit a wrong note, then make it right by what you play afterward."

Sonny Rollins - "Improvisation is the ability to create something very spiritual, something of one's own."

Sonny Rollins - "I feel that Jazz improvisation is the ultimate. You have to create on the spot, the essence of this music."

Art Tatum - "There is no such thing as a wrong note."

Art Tatum - "You have to practice improvisation, let no one kid you about it!"

Cecil Taylor - "Improvisation is the ability to talk to oneself."

Herbie Hancock - "You can practice to learn technique, but I'm more interested in conceiving something in the moment." 

Charles Mingus - "I always wanted to be a spontaneous composer." 

Thelonious Monk - "Play what you want & let the public pick up on what you doing even if it does take them 15, 20 years."

Michel Legrand - "To play piano is a significant part of my life, my existence. It fulfills a very physical & spiritual need for me." 

Lester Young - "You can have tone & technique but without originality you ain't really nowhere. Gotta be original." 

Artie Shaw - "An entertainer pleases others while an artist only has to please himself." 

Bennie Wallace - "Art is self expression. If you are expressing someone else's personality, that is not art."

and last but not least:

Roland Kirk - "When I die I want to be cremated, put in a bag of pot & beautiful people to smoke me."

Roland Kirk - "So until we see you again, bright moments & keep searchin' for your mystery note on the universal piano of life." 

[Jazz  Quotes- Excerpted from Basic Musicianship by DC DowDell]

i think i'll go turn on the piano and recorder and let em warm up...

[C]2012 DOUG DUFFEY

MOMENTS IN A DAY- RAIN SONGS

While in Switzerland this July 2012 to perform two concerts at the Braderie [city festival] in Biel/Bienne [and 3 weeks of much needed rest]  i again managed to spend days at my beautiful Burger & Jacobi acoustic upright piano. For the past few years i have been recording with it, using a Tascam Dr1 stereo portable digital recorder. i sit the recorder on a box behind the piano, between it and the painted concrete wall in the garage, which gives a natural reverberation. 

on the days i am compelled to create, i never plan anything but TO create. i get coffee and my cigarette rolling machine, my notebook and pen- go to the piano, turn on the recorder, sit down and only write down the date of the session, then a key to play in, and let the journey begin. when one piece feels finished, i write down a different key and begin again with no preconception. this usually goes on for hours, whole days into nights, as long as the spirit moves me. when i finally get tired, i stop.

everything played is off the top of my head. nothing is planned except the key. nothing is structured, nor do i want it to be. it's during these moments that i am almost in a trance like state. i feel like a radio; that the omniversal cosmic soul, the great creator, channels through me, moving my fingers. i've always felt this even when i first began playing piano AND began improvising in my pre-teens. i record everything i do, and never fix anything. i believe there are NO mistakes in ART. a lot of what i do is melodic but sometimes also atonal, and even if i hit a note that sounds out of scale [to someone] @ 1st- it usually corrects itself, by my playing another note/chrod, or  building on it until it IS synthesized into the pedaled drone/over/undertones.

i almost always do VERY long pieces- between 6 to 9 minutes, changing patterns, going in and out of keys, changing tempos, letting the music evolve and unfold into what it wants to be. i can feel when IT wants to end. 

as some may or may not know, despite the fact that i was raised in a household where john lee hooker, jimmy reed, slim harpo, elvis and chuck berry were played, my first love was classical music. my aunt Clara gave me a compilation classical LP she got at Safeway for buying a certain amount of groceries; when i first heard Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff and Wagner, it blew me away! it opened me up to a whole new world.  i wanted to be a classical pianist! i did take lessons, studying and playing classical music for a few years- then came my teenage years, and when my mama brought me a 45 of the isley brothers "twist and shout" from atlanta [or somewhere] that blew my head off! then came the British invasion, so i stopped, fool that i was, to join a band! duh... hindsight is 20/20. the so many years that i was in bands i always played keyboards, but jumped at the chance to play acoustic whenever i could.

There is something special between man and instrument, when one plays an acoustic instrument, alone, and in total solitude. it's magical, hypnotic, and transcendent; a spiritual and physical communion; a musical religious experience. 

Below are the 'covers' and 'album notes' for both the new cds- which should be online [all online musical outlets] and available for download [only] within a few days to a week:

"Moments In A Day"*  is an improvisational, experimental, and minimalist work, recorded as it was created on July 8, 2012 in Lengnau (Canton Bern) Switzerland. It was recorded using a Tascam DR 1 portable digital recorder placed behind my 200+ year old Burger & Jacobi acoustic upright piano. It is totally organic, au naturel; the pieces were improvised/created/recorded in a one day long recording session, back to back. There are no effects, no fixes, and no editing, other than editing the recording into individual tracks, trimming the beginnings and fading the endings of each track. All music created, performed, recorded, edited and produced by Doug Duffey ©2012; all songs published by Doug Duffey Music, BMI (P)2012. Photos, graphics and design by Doug Duffey (c)2012

 also "Rain Songs"*- as the process was the same, but on different days.

 [C]2012 DOUG DUFFEY