Yet now his stuff is my preferred workout soundtrack.
Why?
I think it has to do with intent.
In the immortal words of Ricky Ricardo,
“Lemme ‘splain.”
My first album was Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours. From the moment I first placed stylus on vinyl, I hated the sound of hiss & warble. I tried for years to eliminate it.
I wasted ridiculous amounts of money & time trying to achieve that pristine sound I could hear only in the studio.
All to no avail. The noise remained.
In 1984, I bought my 1st CD player. My 1st CD was jazz guitarist Stanley Jordan’s Magic Touch. I pressed play and -wow! The silence was actually *silent.*
The only sound from my speakers were sounds recorded by the artists. The dynamic range was mind-blowing. Sonic bliss.
Vinyl, turntables, tonearms & styli all introduce noise never intended by the artist. And vinyl needs constant maintenance, while digital needs almost nothing.
Vinyl is noisy. Digital is pristine.
Then Akira the Don comes along and *intentionally* puts into his music those noises I spent years trying to eliminate from my listening experience.
(What a maniac.)
Yet – in spite of the noise – I like it.
WHY?!?!?
Then it hit me:
But now?
Now I get to hear the music exactly as Akira intended. I get to accept it or reject his music on its own terms. Not due to extraneous noise introduced by a mediator, a 3rd neither of us wanted.
The lesson?
Don’t reject work or art or creations without exposing yourself to it the way the creator intended it to be experienced.
See a professional performance of Hamlet, or at least watch Kenneth Branagh’s Henry V before deciding you don’t like Shakespeare.
Poetry should heard and spoken, not merely read silently to yourself.
Read Elizabeth Barrett-Browning’s Sonnets from the Portuguese out loud to your lover. Feel the shape and texture of the words in your mouth. Revel in the pulse & rhythm of the sound. Let it move your body & soul, not just your mind.
Beautiful sculpture is everywhere.
I own this Bodem French Press not just because it makes good coffee, but because it’s a work of art; it feeds my soul.
Great choreographers capture and amplify the essence of human experience in movement. See any of Balanchine’s ballets and Fosse’s jazz.
Experience these great works in person if possible.
Fosse’s unique style came from his own physical limitations. Barrett-Browning was agoraphobic. Beethoven was deaf when he created his 9th symphony.
I could go on and on, but you get the picture.
Your imperfections & failings are your pathway to transcendence.
Be yourself.
Don’t give up on your own vision of the world, nor criticize those who are pushing forward as well.
We all see through a glass darkly.
Get out there. Create. Fail. Create again.
In the words of the greatest stateman of the 20th century:
“…never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never – in nothing, great or small, large or petty – never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense.”
Sir Winston Churchill
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