The Value of Culture

Everything we invest our time, energy, and resources into is driven by the value we expect to receive on the back end of said investments. And like the age-old adage of “price is what you pay, value is what you get,” just means that we value what we think is valuable. Therefore, since common sense tells us that music, just like fashion, will always function as a medium for amplifying the sensibilities and visibility of the cultures they come from, means that when we embrace a style of music, what we’re really embracing are certain cultural tenants that undergird that music.

With that said, the direction that I want to take this post has to do with the idea of the unsung heroes that have contributed mightily to the health of certain cultural activities, because when you look at the history of various art forms, and the artists that have received high praise from their culture for serving as an exemplary model for that culture, it’s important to also give credit to the lesser-known benefactors that have played critical roles within the sustainment of the cultural ecosystems that produce the art that we consume. And personally, I’d rather see these people and institutions recognized well within their lifetime. So I want to start by highlighting three important benefactors within the greater Portland, OR area that have served as important linchpins within the various efforts that have been made since the start of the 2020 shutdown to preserve the cache of Jazz music here. Which, as we know, was undoubtedly the most challenging year that the world has seen within any of our lifetimes.

The first person I want to highlight is Kent Lewis, owner of Tavern on Kruse in Lake Oswego, OR. And like the other two names that I’ll highlight, he understands the value of cultural support, because when you improve the standards of culture, behavior is soon to follow. And as such, the entrepreneurial spirit that permeates the life that he has built with his equally talented wife Joelle, is continuously inspiring him to intentionally look for new ways of supporting great cultural initiatives wherever they are. Which of course was made evident two months into the initial shutdown when he found a clever way to lean into the artistic culture that he subscribes to as a way to help stabilize his business amidst all of the economic uncertainty that surrounded him. After all, if culture is what built his business, it would be culture that he’d have to lean into to keep it afloat. And sure enough, his bet paid off. By hosting Jazz seven days a week, he found himself having quickly cornered the market on live Jazz in less than two weeks, due to the serendipitous nature of the physical layout of his business. And with the world craving connection, he was able to scratch that itch and ride that wave better than probably anyone else in the entire state of Oregon.

Second on this list is Amalfi’s in N.E. Portland. Amalfi’s is a legacy restaurant in the sense that it has been serving the area that it resides since 1959, which coincidentally is considered one of the most important years within the history of Jazz, as several seminal recordings between Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and Ornette Coleman came out that year—one of which was Miles Davis’ “Kind of Blue,” which is still the highest purchased Jazz recording of all times. Owner Kiauna Floyd is someone who also cares deeply about the power of culture, and what good can come of it when you harness it for all of the right reasons. And as such, she too recognized that she was in a unique position to capitalize on the tremendous amount of space that she had to provide culture with high quality live Jazz three days a week, which in turn allowed her to virtually corner the market on live music here on the East side of Portland. Also, given the great marketing work that her husband Rashad does within the world of professional sports, it has helped this dynamic duo to further solidify their reputations as well-known and highly respected people who so desperately want to help push the culture of Portland forward with a new and improved narrative.

And last but not least, The 1905 responded by hosting livestreamed events out of their space. And while the owner Aaron Barnes recognized that his space could not meet the safety requirements needed to continue hosting live Jazz shows, while still making the revenue needed to keep his doors open, he was quick to respond by setting up virtual performances instead, which has allowed him to expand his brand awareness globally while simultaneously reducing his entertainment costs, which really came in handy throughout the winter months when it was too cold for anyone to perform outside. And as such, his live streamed events were able to fill the cultural entertainment gap until the weather could finally break. And now as we move closer to summer, he’s able to satisfy both an in-person audience while simultaneously offering a livestreamed option for people to partake in, no matter where they are in the world. Also, it’s worth noting that as of October 2018, his venue sits on the list of the top 100 venues world-wide to hear live Jazz via the famed Downbeat Magazine.

Suggested Takeways…

a) The invisible hand of the market that shapes the world we live in is driven by the way businesses react to the ebbing and flowing of culture. And if you don’t lean into culture to know how to communicate with it, then you’re going to find yourself always reacting clumsily when market shifts occur, as opposed to already having the insight needed to get in front of those shifts when they happen.

b) Music preferences are one of the most reliable indicators for how and when cultural shifts will happen.

c) The world of music owes a tremendous debt of gratitude to all of the lesser known individual and organizational benefactors that have never received their rightful due. And as such, they should be exalted whenever possible.  

Using music to re-contextualize reading and comprehension.

A common troupe that we’ve all heard is that people (especially millennials) have lost the skill to communicate effectively, now that we’re firmly entrenched into the tech dominated landscape of the 21st century. However, people such as a Gary Vee will tell you that people are actually communicating more than ever before. It just doesn’t look like it used to in the past. Well, I’m also compelled now to push back on the notion that people tend to read less after they leave the compulsory learning environment of school as well. I think they’re reading just as much if not more so after they leave school. The difference, however, is the substance of what they’re reading. And to go one step further, an even more compelling argument may be to say that the rate at which people read is of lesser concern than their ability to comprehend and contextualize the importance of what they’re reading.

As a music educator, one of the hardest things to do is to get young students to REALLY listen to a song before sitting down to read it. Their assumption is that if they’ve given a song a few cursory passes, that should be sufficient, as the sheet music “should” fill in the rest of their blind spots. But that assumes that any sheet of music could ever adequately articulate everything that needs to be indicated, and in a way that NO ONE could ever misunderstand. But the reality is that if someone were to adequately write out a chart that could compensate for a musician who has chosen not to listen to how it goes, it would be the most cluttered thing you’d never want to look at, as oftentimes it’s counterproductive to attempt to notate certain things with standard notation—case in point, think about how insufficient it will always be to fully articulate a feeling into a text or email message without it being misinterpreted on some level. Therefore, without an aural component to fully counterbalance written content, it can create something as small as a one-degree misfire that can exponentially grow out of proportion before you know it. So the fact of the matter is that reading is actually a form of “hearing.” Meaning that when you’re reading, you’re hearing the words being said in your head, because if you were to read a foreign language that you had no experience with, you’d just be starring at a bunch of squiggly lines that mean nothing to you. That said, it’s also important to remember that the “faintest ink is more powerful than the strongest memory.” Meaning that the value of writing things down is so it can reduce our cognitive load for keeping the main things “the main things.”

Suggested Takeaways…

a) Words don’t write themselves. People write them. Therefore, a book is a substitute for a conversation with the author. *Hint: Reading is actually “hearing” without the sound. So listen to the people whose writing you consume, and as often as you can, as it’ll increase the speed and absorption rate of your reading.

b) Don’t be so quick to claim ownership of your comprehension of a subject until it has been balanced extensively enough through at least two of your senses (i.e. eyes and ears).  

c) Listening requires patience. So if you’re an impatient person, your mind might not sit still long enough to absorb the most pertinent parts of a story or music. Which, depending on what you’re doing, could present a set of liabilities that may be hard to bounce back from.

Passion & Purpose: What are they and why do they matter?

I’ve always been interested in the contrasting lifestyles that people lead. And wondering what objective conclusions can be made about those that get to live the lives they live, versus those who feel they have to live the lives they live, has been one of my greatest curiosities. But now that I’ve read the book Atomic Habits by James Clear, it has become clear to me that the answer lies in knowing the difference between passion and purpose.

  If you objectively think about what our purpose is here on earth, we can conclude that it is to simply perpetuate the continued existence of our species. After all, every plan we make for tomorrow, next week, next month, and next year, is because we expect to still exist at all of those future points in time. And since our collective existence is a team sport in which we’re all on the same team, means that our purpose is to help other people survive and hopefully thrive. Which, by the way, if we focus on thriving as opposed to simply surviving, the former will automatically address the latter (but more on that in a future post). As for passion, it is an energetic feeling that we apply to any activity that we feel can give us the fuel and focus needed to go the distance towards fulfilling our earthly purpose.

  When you think about why certain people can’t lose weight, it’s not because it’s impossible for them to do so. It’s because they’re not emotionally up to the task, seeing as how the calculous is very simple: move more, eat less. This isn’t a moral issue, it’s a physics issue. Therefore, when it comes to those who are confused as to if they should be following their passion(s) or their purpose (let alone knowing the difference between the two), it’s because they have yet to figure out if they’re emotionally up to the task of learning how to passionately embrace the kinds of activities (even if it’s not their original passion) for helping them to fulfill their purpose of helping others as stated above. And this my friends is where the rubber really meets the road.

Logic says to pick a target, reverse engineer a process for hitting said target within a specified amount of time, and then stick to a work habit for executing on that process. However, if your current passions don’t seem to fit anywhere within such a scheme after you’ve drawn it out, this is where the emotional reluctance occurs towards letting go of your beliefs about yourself. And the best analogy I can give is the feeling of doubt one might have towards their abilities to find another person who can make them feel as good as the last person they were with before that relationship dissolved. In other words, a person might have a hard time believing that it’s actually possible for anything else in this world to energetically satisfy them like the passion(s) they currently hold. But the irony of it all is that none of us came into this world with ANY of the passions we currently hold. Those passions were developed over time. So if we could do it once, we could do it again by learning to develop other passions that may be more appropriate towards this mechanical purpose we all share (i.e. showing others how to thrive in all areas of life). But it all starts with defining what we want that purpose/vision to look like, and in great detail (think the specificity of MLK’s Dream speech) if we’re to know that we’re actually hitting our target. And THAT’s the part that most of us fail to do! So in paraphrasing Robert Kiyosaki, you have to really dig into the “numbers” when you need to make an unemotional decision about matters that matter the most.

Suggested Takeaways…

a) Leading a life by passion alone is like allowing yourself to be in a boat in the middle of the ocean without a sail, simply because you have a profound preference for the boat you currently have.

b) Passion(s) is for self, purpose is for everyone else.

c) Doing the math (i.e. the “numbers”) means being clear on exactly how you want the look and feel of your purpose to play out. From there, pick a date, plot a course, and become relentless about finding some aspect of the course you can become passionate about. *Hint: If your current passion(s) don’t fit easily into the picture, find as many aspects of the process where you can integrate your current passion(s) so that you won’t be so energetically reluctant to do the work.

Communication: Seeds and Soil

Over the past two weeks I’ve been learning a lot about myself and the world around me. And one of the simple things I’ve been reminded of is how perspective shifts are re-interpretations of reality. Therefore, it’s important that we stay in pursuit of as many objectifiable truths as we can about how the universe works so that we can improve upon the way in which we engage with everything and everyone. So as always, the purpose of this blog post is to draw some compelling lines between the subject matter, music, and the human condition.

If you’re a farmer, there are a number of things and tests that have to be done to a plot of land before the process of planting seeds begins. And even after seeds have been planted there’s still a process of maintenance that must occur so as to ensure the healthy growth of the crops that are meant to be harvested. Which, as you can imagine, is no different than the process of preparing for a child and the subsequent raising of that child from inception to adulthood. So if we take this same farming concept to the way in which we engage in communicating with one another, what specifically might this look like?

When strangers meet for the first time, it’s almost like watching two prize fighters square off as they size each other up physically and intellectually through small talk. And perhaps that’s one of those constants that we might see throughout the animal kingdom where two animals have to establish if the other will be friendly or adversarial before they allow themselves to put their safety guard down. But regardless as to if I’m right or not about this, it still occurs to me that this process of evaluating each other can be a good analogy for how we evaluate plots of land for harvesting. Therefore, since all of the ways in which we communicate verbally and non-verbally are like seeds that we’re constantly spreading around, both intentionally and unintentionally, the question becomes whether or not we’re aware of what the quality is of the seeds we’re sowing. After all, to not know the substance of the seeds you’re planting in people would be like a band leader who allows someone to create and post a gig flier all over town for an upcoming show without proofing the flyer before it gets deployed. It could be fine, but they’ll never know for sure.

Now regarding the planting of seeds where you know what the substance of those seeds are, can allow you to stay in the driver’s seat of how you navigate the opportunities that will present themselves to you along your journey in life. That said, it’s also important to remember that just because you want to plant seeds somewhere, it doesn’t mean that you can if the soil isn’t conducive for you to do so. So just like in business, timing is important. So to be successful you’d want to start by surveying the substance of the soil to determine if what you intend to plant will be supported by that environment before you start determining the kinds of tools you’ll need to help prep the land for what you intend to grow. And again, there’s still a process of constant care that needs to be applied towards the final harvesting of your crops. But the better you prep on the front end, the easier it should be to maintain the integrity of your crops once they start to bloom.

Suggested Takeaways…

a) We are constantly broadcasting thoughts about ourselves and others in both verbal and non-verbal ways. So if a broadcast station has to be mindful of all the direct and indirect messaging that comes from their station, then it’s a good idea for us to be just as mindful of all the messages we’re broadcasting as well.

b) Before you begin the intentional practice of sowing good seeds into people, it’s helpful to know what the substance of their mind is, because to continue planting a certain type of seed in the field of someone’s mind that’s not ready for it can emotionally burn you out if you fail to survey the “land” before you begin.

c) Just like with construction, the more work you put in on the front end to prep a parcel of land, the faster the growth process will go. So to quote my man John C. Maxwell “you can either pay now and play later, or play now and pay later.” Either way, you have to pay. The difference, however, is that when you pay on the back end, you’ll always pay with interest.

Foundation: We are what we eat!

If you find yourself in a hurricane, tornado, or earthquake, your mission is to take cover under whatever set of surfaces are sturdy enough to help you weather said storm. So when you find yourself stuck in the middle of an economic, health, or social storm, your only recourse is to identify a set of reliable principles that can support your well-being until (and after) the ground settles. And I can’t think of a more intuitive path towards the embodiment of success principles than through the body, as this is where all knowledge begins. After all, just think about the developmental process of babies. All of their intellectual knowledge happens after they’ve learned to control their limbs and their mouths. So if you don’t value the insights that are to be gleaned from how the human body works, then I think you’re missing out on a valuable opportunity to realize that you already have the tools to change your life. Meaning that if your future successes are predicated upon your daily habits, then there’s no better place to test the efficacy of this idea than to observe what can happen to your body when you change your physical and dietary habits. So here’s a quick story to explain what I mean.

When I was living back in New Brunswick, NJ. my best friend Owen had moved himself and his family 45 min away to Easton, PA. So since he was further away, I knew that I’d have to really make the most of my time with him whenever I made the trek out to his house. That said, I remember spending the night at his place one winter, where the following day we went outside in his back yard to toss his football around. And since he’s also my Sifu within Ving Tsun Kung Fu, I didn’t want to leave without some kind of gold-nugget takeaway that I could internalize to make the trip feel that much more worth it. And as soon as I had this thought, the answer appeared. Meaning, whenever I’d throw the ball to him, he’d catch it with little negative impact. But when he’d throw it to me, my fingers would sting because we were outside in the snow without gloves on. So the simple lesson I took from this interaction was that unlike myself, Owen was more comfortable putting himself in vulnerable positions to gain the insight needed to react to situations appropriately. Therefore, since how we do anything is roughly how we do everything, I thought to see where there might be a connection between this idea about vulnerability and music. And what I realized was that not only did my drum solo’s make little sense back then, but the way I spoke to people also wasn’t much different. So since my thinking was the problem, I thought to fix it by writing. I’d think of a question and then defend my answer through numerous rounds of editing until my argument was what I’d consider to be air-tight. Ironically enough, this process of having to clarify my thoughts like this improved my soloing without ever touching an instrument first. And to be more specific, it was because I suddenly became hypersensitive to the value of developing singular narratives as opposed to being all over the place.

Suggested Takeaway’s…

a) It’s tough to be an effective “human doing” before you can become an effective “human being.” And as such, nothing will ever be more foundational to our learning than physical experiences.

b) All building blocks to self-awareness start with the relationships we have with our bodies. So learn what the building blocks are for the body that support its basic functioning.

c) Above ALL else, our most important asset in life will always be the health of our bodies, because even if we fall on hard times, we’ll still have the strength, flexibility, and stamina to re-org so we can live to fight another day. But without these attributes, our capacity to be of service to our fellow man/woman will be greatly limited.

Improvisation: Redefining the process.

When you take the word Improvisation and split it down the middle, you get the word Improve minus the letter E. And what’s in need of improving is the melody, as it’s always played before you’re free to “improve” upon it. Now logic says that if you want to learn to do something, simply find a good model to emulate. However, it should also go without saying that your comprehension of what you hear is of greater importance than simply the sound itself. Therefore, what you listen for matters more than what you listen to. So before getting to the crux of this post, I want to point out that the best improvisers always embody the three elements, which as you’ll see, will play an important role in how this post concludes.

a) They have a myopic concern for self-expression.

b) They have a concern for their fellow musicians’ ability to adequately support them within the functional areas of time, intonation, and harmony.

c) They have a concern for their band’s collective effort in servicing the emotional integrity of the music they’re playing.

As mentioned, what we listen for is more important than what we listen to. And when I listen to many of the ideas that people reference, it sounds like they simply focused on the sound of those ideas at the expense of questioning why those ideas were ever played in the first place. And because texture and function are the only two reasons why we play anything, the unfortunate trend these days (especially within the education system) has been that people have become more bullish in their investment towards self-serving ideas (i.e. texture) as opposed to unifying ones (i.e. function). And just to be clear, this has less to do with character defects as it has to do with flaws in how they were taught to think about improvisation. But here’s the irony. When we listen to the agreed upon masters, especially in their later years, they all tend to express themselves in a way where they can satisfy both the issue of texture and function at the same time. Therefore, this leads me to believe that if you can focus on being functional in a way that also allows you to express yourself with the textures you like, you’ll finally become free to shrink your circle of concern down to just one thread of thought. Which, when accomplished, can greatly decrease the amount of incessant mind chatter that keeps many musicians confused about what to play, and how to play it. So here’s my remedy for this.

If practicing is a form of situational preparedness, and the ideas you hear on a record are simply tactics for negotiating those particular situations, then the goal is to simply decide if you want to adopt those same tactics for similar situations. And once you’ve listened to, and have learned to emulate a number of these tactics, it’ll reduce the chances that you’ll be caught off guard as to what to play in any given situation. Therefore, once a melody has been played and the real improvisation starts, it’ll increase the chances that your ideas will be framed through the lens of wanting to help everyone else’s performance, despite you being the soloist (think Miles Davis)! So once you can develop the faith that a focus on others can still yield extreme satisfaction for yourself, it’ll not only revolutionize your growth potential as a musician, but as a citizen of society as well.

Suggested Takeaway’s…

a) While the quality of what we listen to matters, what we focus on when we’re listening matters more.

b) There are two types of ideas: self-serving and functional. Self-serving are textures that satisfy only the soloist, while more functional ideas are specifically meant to help others. Therefore, to satisfy yourself through the aid of others means you “win.”

c) Oftentimes we listen to the improvisations of our heroes as if their ideas sprang up from out of nowhere. But we always forget to ask the critical question of how this concept of improvising even started in the first place. And the answer is that in the beginning, success meant being able to play a well worked-out arrangement, which had much less to do with how we think about soloing today. Therefore, through the knowledge of the many tactical ways in which the masters thought to negotiate an arrangement, is where you’ll find the raw materials needed for you to play through all other arrangements, as well as when it’s time for you to improvise.  

Sort by Price: The Value of Artistic Expression

An inability to assess the real value of something leaves us with no other recourse but to evaluate it against something more familiar. And in a world where speed is a virtue, the idea of stopping to smell the roses (long enough to assess value) sounds more like a cliché than a practical habit. Therefore, when you can’t ascertain the value of one thing over another, a race to the bottom where the lowest price wins ends up being the deciding factor.

One of the realities of freelancers is that we don’t scale, as only we can do the work that we do. Therefore, we must either trade a ton of time servicing lots of clients/customers, or we must work to obtain a smaller number of better clients/customers who have more income and a palette for the work we do. And the most tried and true way to cross this chasm has always been to market what you do for the smallest viable audience you can, as they’ll distribute all the heavy lifting among themselves to connect you to others that share their aesthetic. What’s great about this is that you don’t have to over commit both your time and resources to mass marketing strategies, as that would negate the idea of reaching the smallest viable audience. So once you determine who your audience is (i.e. people who share your beliefs), then you go all-in on talking to these people about what you do, and why they might care. Now I’d be remiss if I didn’t highlight this one extra perspective, as I think it’s one that’s often overlooked.

When you think about the popularity of sports over the arts, it’s because there are a number of media outlets where practitioners of a sport have been allowed to control the narrative of their sport. And even if someone has never played a sport, they can still learn to interpret the game in a way that connects them in an authentic way to the tribes of people who actually play those sports, due to their understanding having been informed by credible sources. But when it comes to something like music, most people’s understanding of it is informed by people whose insights aren’t as well developed as that of a professional athlete giving commentary on the sport that they play. So when you compound the obscurity of this type of analysis towards music, coupled with the lack of exposure that people have to watching and hearing world-class musicians (which isn’t always synonymous with being world famous), there should be no wonder as to why there’s such a giant discrepancy between our collective imagination of what it even means to be a professional athlete versus a professional musician. So again, without the requisite understanding of what makes high level music what it is, why would the public have any other reason but to apply a sort-by-price metric to the music they choose to consume?

Suggested Takeaways…

a) It’s arguable that throughout the history of the world, all great civilizations have been weighed more by their artistic contributions as opposed to the strength of their military or GDP. So to increase the premium on our focus for high level forms of artistic expression could really shift the way we all connect to one another across cultural, political, and religious isles.

b) Developing a personal relationship with the smallest viable audience you can for your product and/or service, presupposes that that audience will tell others like themselves about you and what you do so that it gives them yet another reason to deepen their relationships to one another (i.e. tribalism).

c) If you don’t control your narrative, someone else will.

Balancing Act: How to Establish Good Priorities.

The contents of this blog might be one of the most important set of ideas that I’ll ever put forth into the world. And after having spent an inordinate amount of time wrestling with these thoughts, I now feel comfortable enough to stand behind them…starting with the notion that now is the time to audit our blueprints for survival and success, so as to assess how well they really served us in the past, and how well they’ll serve us in the future.

As I’ve mentioned in several other blog posts, this idea of mission and terrain really helps to simplify our thinking, as they ask “what needs to be done,” and “where does it need to be done at, and what are the obstacles that need to be addressed?” So here’s what I think is the magic syllabus that we’ve all been looking for this whole time.

Mission

• To sustain human existence.

Terrain

• Where does it need to be done: Global Market Economy (unless you live off the grid)

• Obstacles to overcome: Create a great relationship with yourself, friends, family, and loves ones; find a financial vehicle that supports that; teach someone else how to do these two steps.

One of the top questions on everyone’s mind always comes down to how to maintain the right work/life balance. But because balance requires at least two points, most people never develop a sense of balance because they’ve never really asked themselves “what do I want, and when do I want it.” Which, at the end of the day, is simply a pacing issue, as I don’t believe that anyone is adverse to hard work. I do, however, believe that like running a race, most people’s commitment level towards something is based upon their belief about their ability to finish on time. For example, if you bet someone that they couldn’t run across a street in under 30 seconds, anyone would take that bet. But if you bet someone to run a mile in under 6 minutes, most people would opt out after a simple physical (and sometimes ego-centric) cost-benefit analysis on whether it’s worth it. So again, this is a pacing issue, because no one wants to enter a race if they feel they can’t go the distance. But if you can see the path you need to take, and the sacrifices make sense based upon your timeline, then it makes it easier to go all in on your goals, as well as to articulate to others why your balancing act looks the way it does. Which ironically enough, might make it easier for people to then imagine how they can help you along your journey.

With the first half of the terrain issue (i.e. pacing) having now been established, the second relates to the narrative that says that our value begins at a job (i.e. “obstacles to overcome”). Don’t get me wrong, jobs are fine. However, for anyone reading this, at no point during your time in the educational system did you have the message marketed to you that the function of school was to help you to learn how to become financially independent and/or how to own a business. The message was marketed as “you need to get a good education so you can hopefully land a good job with good benefits.” More importantly, no serious discussions were ever had on how to diversify your imagination for what a sustainable lifestyle could look like in different parts of the world. Instead, what most of us learned was how to land a full-time job that’ll probably only support a part-time lifestyle. So again, because little to NO conversation is ever had about how to prepare oneself for different types of lifestyles, is why the idea of “lifestyle” is treated so tangentially to the predominate conversations around employment. Which is ironic, because the main reason why we work is to earn money to fund the type of idyllic lifestyle we think we’ll be satisfied with. So when I see people, especially in the arts, who say they love what they do, yet their strategy isn’t moving them towards their non-specific “lifestyle,” it’s like watching a wolf bleed out from the tongue after licking their wounded foot, even though it's caught in a double-sided bladed snare. They’re literally killing themselves without even knowing it, and that’s tragic.

With this new downturn in the economy, it has forced people to contend with the underlying fears that have always been there but are now on front street. And that fear is telling them “what happens to the value of your profession when the marketplace has rendered it non-essential?” Furthermore, when your value is based upon what you do, and not the lifestyle you’ve been able to create for yourself and family, that fear will lead you to believe that your intrinsic value is only as high or useful as the marketplace says you occupation is. So for us musicians, now is a perfect time to reassess the story we told ourselves years ago about why we REALLY wanted to do what we do. For many, I believe they thought that it would be a great way to make some pseudo easy money from doing what they’ve always done. But the realities are that the music business, like any business, exists to make money. So it makes sense to me that an artist learn to see themselves like a business if they want to stay in the game a while. Besides, given all the stories in history where ones artistic vision was squelched by the vision of someone else who had some kind of financial leverage over them, makes me think that it makes more sense to initially bootstrap your “business” through a job so that you can avoid “taking out loans” to get your artistic voice out there on your own terms. So if your job is your plan A, then your music career is your plan B. And if you’re still motivated after work to work on honing your skills, then it goes to show that you might have what it takes to go the distance, should you choose to eventually make your plan B your plan A.

In wrapping this up, the obstacle to overcome for a musician (but is really applicable to everyone) is simply the ability to generate the requisite amount of money needed to fund a lifestyle that affords you the ability to schedule music in your life however you see fit. So if you can get a job that pays you well enough, and allots you the free time to keep growing as a musician, then perhaps that’s a good fit for you. But again, you’ll never know which financial vehicle will serve you best for getting you to your lifestyle destination if you don’t know what that destination even looks like. Which, of course, will inform you of how long it should realistically take to get there.   

Suggested takeaways…

a) One of the best ways to know if you’re really serious about music is to get a job that pays the bills. If you do, yet you’re still anxious to practice after work, then you probably have what it takes to eventually go the distance with music full time. So again, when your basic financial needs are being met, you can be more strategic with how you invest your time, energy, and resources into music. But without a financial cushion, you may find your time stretched in more ways than you care to have it stretched, all because you can’t afford to say NO to the gigs that add little value to you, either musically or financially.

b) None of anything I’ve mentioned will mean anything unless you map out in great detail the vision you have for your lifestyle, and how much it’s going to cost you, both financially and within your typical habits and routines.

c) The legacy of every artist is predicated upon their point of view. And that POV is only as valuable as the number of people that adopt it. So when we know how we want to interact with them, it’ll also color how we think to construct our lifestyle. After all, unless you’re a hermit, what good is creating a lifestyle that you can’t share with anyone else?

The Truth About Myths

The truth about myths are that they’re inductive arguments, and we’ve been swallowing them our entire lives. So when people begin to wrestle with a myth, two camps emerge.

a)  They’ll decide there’s not enough positive evidence to justify the continued support of the myth.

or…

b)   They’ll embrace the myth as a means of ensuring their survival in society, even if they don’t fully agree with the myth. And it’s these people that prefer the devil they can see as opposed to the one they can’t.

I bring this up because I’m becoming increasingly aware that what we’re all doing out here in this world is engaging in the trafficking of ideas, both proven and unproven. And marketing exists to monetize both. And since ideas predate action, is the reason why it’s helpful to have as much insight as possible into why and how ideas spread the way they do.

As you know we’re pack animals. And since our lizard brain exists to keep us alive, it means that when we’re put in an uncomfortable position, that brain will signal us to either flee, attack, or create an ally with the threat. But when the threat is simply an idea, the only options are to accept or attack it. But what’s rarely admitted, or even realized, is that regardless of our choice, our decisions are always made in the name of moving us towards a sense of connectedness with a pack that we believe will have our back in this world. But without a crew, we’ll possibly spend the rest of our lives contending with the fact that the volume knob on our lizard brain is stuck on 11, due to our inability to relax and trust that there’s anyone out there who’s willing to guard our six.

In the case of letter A, this person would be someone who’s brave enough to entertain a mindset that stands in contrast to the pack (i.e. parents, loved ones, friends, co-workers, teachers). In other words, they’ve calculated that it makes more sense to lean towards the arc of their new truth. And this decision will be fueled by either the encouragement of their growth minded pack, or from some other inner strength of resolve to follow their own muse despite the bond with their pack.

In the case of letter B, I believe this to be the most pitiful and common of scenarios. This is where someone who has become awakened to their unfulfilled potential begins to get restless. And as they explore new ways of thinking and being, they know they risk either being ex-communicated from the pack or stifled by it. If they allow themselves to be stifled by it, it’s because they don’t want to bring undo attention to the growth gap that secretly exists between them and the others, for fear of being a target of ridicule (myth). And as it stands, many would rather contend with predictable pain as opposed to the unpredictable kind. After all, if you can predict it, you can brace yourself. If you can’t, the fear is that the blow may be so great that it kills your will to get up to fight another day (myth). At any rate, when your crew sucks, your decision to outgrow them can create disorder in the court, as your growth will serve as an indictment for the lack of theirs. And for many, this type of cognitive dissonance is hard to reconcile because while you feel a sense of blind loyalty towards the crew that has nurtured you up until this point, you still feel compelled to lean towards the arc of your new truth, which may very well force you to walk alone in the end, until you can rebuild another pack. Thus, it’s within the loneliness of this transition from one normal to a new normal that you’ll find out if you’re just a follower or a leader who’s worth following one day.

I write this piece to help normalize the struggle that so many people experience along their journey of “becoming,” because like they say, “new levels, new devils.” So while there will always be new skill sets to acquire along the journey towards the summit of our potential, I believe our fear is really all the same. And it comes from the dilemma of either being bold enough to expose ourselves to the chance of failing so miserably that we’re compelled to accept a sense of internal defeat, or the fear of always wondering “what if” if we fail to launch ourselves into the unknown. And so I’m here to tell you that you’ll never regret the leap into the unknown if you walk into it with the right attitude/mindset, and possibly partner or team. After all, if you’re supposed to be writing your own story, what kind of worthwhile content could you possibly drum up if you idle your way through life? So don’t write a boring and uninspiring story. For god’s sake, make it worth reading!

Suggested takeaways…

a) Myth’s are all the little “truisms” that have been bequeathed to you by others and serve as the framework of your internal constitution, for better or worse. So take note of every little saying you’ve ever adopted and figure out who gave you that truth and why. Then ask whether or not it will continue to serve you well as you venture towards the next base camp in your life.

b) Accept no myth at face value. Do the math! If it doesn’t add up, be willing to stand alone if you must (even if this applies to your own family). It may be hard, but worth it in the end.

c) As you grow, know that certain people won’t be equipped to continue along your journey. So learn to be okay with this. However, if you choose your friends wisely, the real ones will always be with you, whether on the field or in the stands cheering you on.

How to Land a Gig

In paraphrasing Quincy Jones, the day I learned to draw a line in the concrete between music and the music business, it too was the beginning of the rest of my life. So while “music” is the art of creating music, the music business is the art of selling music. And if you don’t understand the terrain of the latter, then you’re DOA, as we’d say in the military.

Now like the military, you don’t win battles when you lack knowledge of the terrain you have to navigate. And as it stands, there are many aspiring music professionals whose dreams of a prosperous future are being led to the slaughterhouse because they’re not being briefed well enough on what the rules of engagement will be once they deploy their skills in the “real world.”

Within the battlefield of Jazz, regarding how musicians monetize their efforts, those battles have always been waged on three fronts: small venues, education, festivals. But in all actuality, small venues and the education system have always been the bedrock under which this music has maintained its relevance in society. But for the working musician, the battle is really fought in the small venues throughout the world. So with that said, let’s take a look at what that looks like for securing a gig as both a leader and a side musician.

Leader

The first thing you need to know is that for many small-business owners, it took them getting a loan from a bank (or several) to open their doors. And for many of them the most readily available piece of collateral they had to secure their loan with was their home. Therefore, by definition, someone’s business is in effect a second residence for them. So when you reach out to a venue owner to ask for a gig in their “house” before rapport is built, it can send a message to the owner that your relationship with them is purely conditional. Meaning that, if there’s no opportunity on the table to perform, then you’re not going to be a loyal supporter of them and their establishment. So what may feel like a sterile business interaction to you, may be taken personally by them (depending on their temperament). So if you don’t come correct, you might get put in the “friend zone” without ever knowing it. And 90% of the time they’ll never be transparent enough with you to tell you this, thus leaving you to continue scratching your head while you watch everyone else get the performance opportunities you want. So as John C. Maxwell always says, “you have to ask for a heart before you ask for a hand.”   

Side Musician

There are two ways that you can go about getting a gig with someone, and both present their advantages and disadvantages.  

Narrow: This means you’ve keyed in on one or more particular people whose band you want to join. So the way to approach this is by learning their book of music SO WELL that you leave them no logical option but to hire you; or at least open other doors for you and them to work together in another capacity. The upside is that you’ll know exactly how to invest your practicing. The downside is that you might not get hired, thus leaving you to possibly feel like all that work was for nothing. However, like exercising, there’s never really a downside from doing it.

Wide: This means that you’ve taken the time to learn as many songs as possible across a wide array of genres. The upside is that you’ll probably become employable across the widest demographic there is. The downside is that it may take longer to develop a depth of understanding within any genre of music, due to having to spread yourself so thin. And if you’re starting this process as an adult who’s trying to live off of performing, you may find yourself skimming over many important musical details in order to quickly get your name out there as someone who’s worthy of being hired.

Suggested takeaway’s….

a) Business IS personal. So when you approach someone about a gig in their venue, your approach should be to figure out how to bring more value to them and their business FIRST. After all, they have what you want, not the other way around!

b) Just like getting a gig at a venue, the best way to show that you care about a leader and their music is to show up to their gigs. By doing this, it’s a show of how committed you are to learning their music the right way. So not only do you get to hear how the songs are to be played, but you also get to develop rapport with the leader in advance.

c) If you want to develop a reputation for being a super well rounded musician, then the best way to do so is to go to as many shows around town as possible to get a sense of what constitutes a “standard” in your area. After all, what’s the point in learning a bunch of songs that you can’t play with anyone in your area. So just like learning someone’s book of music, you can apply the same concept on a regional scale.

As always, leave a comment to let me know what you agree or disagree with. So let’s talk soon!

The Jazz Dilemma: What is it, and why might it be worth talking about?

Back when MySpace was at the forefront of the social media race, an old college friend used to have a profile tagline that read “I’d rather be relevant than famous.” However, it could be argued that those who are famous are indeed relevant, as the energy behind and frequency within our conversations about them make them so. When we talk about them, I believe what we’re really engaged in is the exercise of either reinforcing or questioning the framework of our own values, but at a safe one-arm emotional distance. And more importantly, who our values seem to align with, and how we ultimately feel about that. Therefore, it can be argued that the sliding scale of a person’s relevance is tied to the amount in which we think we might benefit from having a conversation about them. So if you believe that relevance can be equated to usefulness, then this begs the question of “what is Jazz and why might it worth talking about?”

As we’ve already seen, and continue to see within the styles of Hip-Hop, Rock, R&B, Pop, etc., they provide the public with more obvious ways of incorporating their perceived value (for better or worse) towards their everyday lives, as it gives people content to converse with, sell stuff with, and share within the realms of fashion and speech patterns—all of which are just cultural symbols that people deploy to make it easier for other members of their “tribe” to identify them within crowds. That said, let’s take a quick look at one of the most pervasive forms of music to come about in roughly the last 40 years: Hip-Hop.

It has been said that never in a time throughout the documented history of music have large contingencies of people (especially the youth) ever chosen to identify themselves as being specific products of a musical movement like they do with Hip Hop (i.e. “I am Hip Hop,” “I live Hip Hop,” “I eat, breath, and sleep Hip Hop”). Now granted, during the formative years of Rock & Roll, and even Jazz for that matter, we find that it was also the youth who rallied behind these two movements as well, as they found that they could use certain aspects of the music as a means of validating, to varying degrees, the energy behind the types of opinions they held. However, the power of Hip Hop—which really has to do with America’s long-standing fascination with anything associated with black male youth—is that its aesthetic is now just as interwoven into the everyday fabric of our society as is Starbucks and Nike. So how does this relate to Jazz you might ask? With the way that Jazz is generally marketed and presented these days, coupled with an ever increasing audience that has no significant history of having tried their hand at playing music of any kind at a high level (unlike with sports), the public’s relationship to Jazz is generally one of indifference. However, when people do think about some Jazz that they may have liked, it may have been related to a vocalist, as this is one “instrument” that we’ve all tried practicing behind closed doors. And to further prove my point about the public’s general feeling of indifference towards Jazz, is that their point of consumption is usually within public spaces where the volume is low enough to talk over, thus further conditioning them to regard it as a piece of interior decoration that doesn’t require much of their attention. A perfect example of this would be when the Grammies had Esperanza Spaulding, of all people, performing as background music immediately following her upset over Justin Bieber for “Best New Artist” in 2011 while they made their announcements about the next artist to receive their awards. Could you imagine them having asked Jay-Z to perform while they announced the next award recipient? Clearly, the answer would be no. So as you can see, what Jazz needs is a total branding overhaul, where the public is taught how to interface with it like what has been done with the more popular genres. But in order to do so, it would need to be done in a way that still reflects the hidden values that have helped to sustain Jazz up until this point. So the first step in re-branding this music appropriately lies within an understanding of what it even is in the first place.  

            The word Jazz, like any other style of music, is merely a marketing term. No more, no less. After all, real musicians put their energy into trying to play what they hear, not what to call what they’re playing. It’s also important to remember that the word Jazz had already been in circulation before it was ever attached to a sound. So a fair etymological definition for Jazz would be that it’s a term that was used to describe popular American music at the turn of the 20th century, whose roots can be found in both the Blues and Ragtime music. And whereas the Blues is more akin to an African-American sensibility towards early “American” folk music, Ragtime is more reflective of Western European Classical music and its residual effects upon the types of early Marches that were composed by people such as John Philip Sousa. However, the important piece of connective tissue between the Blues and Ragtime is the application of the black aesthetic on both. Hence, when you combine these two styles, and run them through an early black filter, what you get is a distilled version of the type of Jazz that people such as Louis Armstrong helped champion. So while this information is all well and good, the question still remains as to what, if any, might be the usefulness of Jazz on our society and the world at large?

            The answer to the above question is that Jazz, like sports and politics, is just another structural model that can be used to evaluate the democratic nature of relationships. So when you learn how the instruments function independently and collectively, a mirror suddenly appears that allows you to gain some insight into how either you or someone else is being. This is no different than how we can use fashion, food and drink choices, speech patterns, and choice of vocabulary as a litmus for how either we or others may be thinking and feeling at any point in time. In fact, I tell people all the time that even when we talk, we’re engaged in Jazz improvisation, as the words we use have to be relevant to the conversation, because if the goal is to build upon a set of ideas, then what would be the point of using words that few people can comprehend? That’s like talking to a baby about the stock market. What’s the point? So when I’m performing, I’m just using ideas that I already have a handle on. But it’s how I string those ideas together that will either attract or repel you from the “conversation.” In short, since listening comes before comprehension, and comprehension comes before action, then just like martial arts, Jazz is the human practice of creating a continuous sequence of appropriate moment-to-moment decisions, so that when it’s all said and done, you can look back with pride for the choices you’ve made.  

Portland audiences, could this be a call to step up your style game?

Within the current edition of Artslandia there's an article entitled "Dress for the Show," which essentially suggests that Portland walks to its own beat when it comes to "social-norms." Which, to be honest, has actually played to the city's advantage in regards to its recent run of national popularity. However, since this particular article is suggesting that a large number of show-goers here in Portland tend to dress a bit too casual at times, I thought that I'd share with you some of my perspective on this topic, as here at Couture of Music, I always believe that one should put their best foot forward whenever possible. Therefore, allow me to share with you just a few key concepts that I use to ensure that my desire for comfort doesn't lead me down a path that might suggest to others that I think little of notions that surround the idea of good manners  and etiquette.

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Manners:

1. the prevailing customs, ways of living, and habits of a people, class, period, etc; mores;

2. a persons outward bearing; way of speaking to and treating others

Etiquette: 

1. conventional requirements as to social behavior, properties of conduct as established in any class or community or far away occasion

I think Rachel Zoe makes an important point with the above statement, in that it also appears to me that a well groomed look speaks to the positive end of how one feels about themselves (regardless as to if they're aware of this or not). However, with the reputation that Portland has garnered over the years for its excessive rainy weather and dark grey skies, it's understandable as to how this might discourage one from taking the time to get dressed when going out. Therefore, if the constant feeling of coziness and comfort is what people from Portland gravitate towards, then lets use that as our point of departure.  So since our mood can be affected greatly by both the feel and fit of the fabrics that we choose to wear, allow me to give you some insight into how one might want to approach structuring their thoughts around the concepts of how clothes can feel and look on us.  

Fabrics:  

I feel that cashmere, flannel, fo-fur, vintage fur versus new (we have a moral dilemma when it comes to fur), knit jersey, merino wool and silk all fall under the heading of what most people would consider to be the softest materials to wear

Fit:

Choose tailored clothing for at least one of your foundation pieces, as tailoring tends to have darts and structure details that help to encourage shapes that compliment the frame of the human form. And if you choose to add additional layers onto your foundation piece, make sure that it doesn't obfuscate the importance or function of your primary piece, which of course, will be to highlight a particular portion of your body you feel great about.  

Accessories:

As you take a look at your complete outfit, decide if you're leaning more towards the side of structured or cozy? Fitted or frumpy/loose? Then consider how the materials, textures, and colors are also speaking...meaning that for whatever element(s) seem to be the most dominate,  balance it with accessories that speak to the less dominant. And when you do choose your accessories, pick ones that will stand out and distinctly speak to the best of your personality, as you'll find that these unique accessories can function as great conversation starters.

So with the help of this guideline, you'll now know how to visually speak to that sweet feeling of cozy that is so very Portland, but yet still have an element of structure. It should say comfort yet clean. Relaxed but purposeful. 

I have to say that I'm quite grateful that the folks at Artslandia Magazine decided to use me as a model for what it might look like when you try to translate the excellent qualities that are inherent within Jazz into a more physically tangible form. And while the cozy pieces that I ended up wearing aired more on the structured side, I have no doubt that with the help of both stylist Todd Everett Kinner and creative director Melanie Hernandez, that we still achieved a relaxed feeling between the loose fit in the pants, undone button near the waist of my vest (so as to leave a little room for my favorite wine and dessert after my second set at Jimmy Maks),  the cozy yet well tailored Marino wool sports jacket with playful patched pockets, bright salmon bow-tie, and fun printed pocket hanker chief to highlight my playful personality. After all, with me and my music being full of life, it only makes sense to dress like it as well!

Shake your tail feather at Solea's Lounge on Alberta every Friday Night with the Christopher Brown Quartet.

With the music starting at 9pm every Friday evening at Solea's on NE 18th Ave and Alberta St., the musical aesthetic that fills the room is always that of a hard driving, yet beautiful and sophisticated style of Jazz that's very much indicative of NYC. And thus it's with these traits that half of every performance is also dedicated to bringing everyone in the room just a little bit closer together by taking the audience on a journey down memory lane, via highly arranged versions of the hottest songs to emerge from the 80's. So while most venues in town are indicative of that laid back vibe that Portland is so known for, you won't find any of that at Solae's, as no one sits still--especially as the hour gets later and people fill the dance floor.