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Opening Up While Shutting Down

The noise of everyday life is the noise of being perpetually busy. The shutdown imposed by the coronavirus pandemic provides a chance to open ourselves up.

Too Busy – Usually Real, Sometimes Less So

The frenetic pace of our lives is something we all bemoan at times, often with good reason. There is no time to think, or to reflect, plan, organize, or to reach out to neglected friends or family. We know the drill: job(s) leaving us exhausted; clutter that begs to be cleared; sleep deficits; the good book we’ve wanted to read, but don’t start because it’s “too long”; food wolfed down without really sharing a meal. How many marriages or other relationships suffer from inadequate time to really listen and share unvarnished thoughts and feelings?

Being “too busy” isn’t even limited to the employed. Since retiring, one of my pursuits has been to seek a new excuse for being less effective than I should be. That one’s not going well.

Now Comes the Pandemic

It looks like our bluff is being called. For many of us, lack of time will not be a problem for a while.

As one enterprise after another (sports, theaters, museums, businesses, schools) shuts down, all events (games, tournaments, conventions, concerts, cruises, flights, meetings) are cancelled or postponed. For fans who wait all year for March Madness, as an example, no basketball is indeed madness. The list of what’s not happening is mind-numbing. The announcements should be for what still is happening.

This virus is taking away all the good distractions that give us relief from the bad stuff in life – you know, like illness.

That’s not the only irony. It feels unsettling that our normal reaction to adversity – to gather together for support and camaraderie – is the very thing we can’t do in this crisis. Meanwhile, all this shutting down is happening amid weather (in Jersey, at least) that announces Spring’s rebirth.

Here’s a weird thought: What will the nightly news or the newspapers have left to cover? [“And now for the Sports, with Bob Skiffle. Bob?” “Thank you, Allison. Nobody’s playing. Back to you.”] A news broadcast will consist of the three C’s: Commercials , Crime, and Coronavirus, with a bit of weather thrown in at the end.

What Will We Do?

Forget what the reporting will be, though. What will we actually do with our time? How will Americans spend their time in a shut-down country? Even people whose jobs continue unabated during the shut-down will find most normal free-time activities unavailable. Imagine those whose jobs go away temporarily or (please, no) permanently. We sometimes say there’s nothing to do even when there’s everything to do. We know what we really mean at those times; what happens when it’s true?

We can read that good, too-long book or catch up on TV programming that we usually regret missing. Of course, we can also binge watch re-runs and endless drivel. There are other possibilities, some of them good.

To be clear, this is not to downplay the harm. There will be plenty. The worst harm, obviously, is to individuals who contract Covid-19. Beyond that, however, will be damage to people’s confidence and finances. There is no shortage of pundits telling us what all this means for the stock market, jobs, and the economy. The layoffs have already begun. State and federal tax revenues will plummet, even as the need for government assistance spikes. Yet…

Once we’ve cleaned all the stores out of disinfectant and secured more French-toast ingredients (bread, milk, eggs) than we could ever consume, there is opportunity here as well. If we can pause and take a deep breath, it might occur to us that we have time to think. The first thing to think about is Time itself.

Time Not Always On Our Side

Time is an artificial construct invented as a way to order our lives. Generally, it works. Time facilitates coordination of activity in a way similar to money facilitating commerce. It’s “midnight” at midnight because we agree to call it that.

Consider:  The next credit card payment is due (let’s say) April 1, with a ten-day grace period, because that’s the agreement. Investors in the lender expect profits from payment of loans and collection of extra fees when late. All of which is fine, as far as it goes. None of this is cosmically ordained, however.

If furloughed borrowers do their best to make payment but come up short, how could lenders justify waiving late fees to their investors? Well, by saying, “We all know what happened here. Profits will be a bit down this quarter, but we’ll all be fine.” If the investors’ creditors in turn take a similar tack with them, and so forth, we smooth out the path to recovery.

In choosing to share the pain, within reason, we can lessen it to the benefit of all. (Being the creditor to a  debtor in trouble is no fun, either.) This assumes, of course, that those able to meet their obligations will do so, rather than take advantage. Our system always depends on overall good faith. Also, when the economy comes back, we can make a point of hiring those who lost their jobs blamelessly.

All of this is to illustrate the bigger point: We can all give each other a break for a month, or longer if needed, and not just financially.

Wouldn’t it be great if, after this unwanted hiatus, we re-engaged with each other as a better people?

Becoming Better

Which brings us to the second, more important, thing to think about: we, ourselves, as individuals.

Whatever makes us better – introspection, honest self-assessment, meditation, study, prayer – this might be the chance to re-establish some good habits. Perhaps we can open ourselves up to new possibilities, or to abandoned aspirations, while the noise is shut down.

Maybe we acknowledge the good in each other that we take for granted. Say the things that “go without saying”. Learn something new. Bury a stupid grudge. Do some good where it’s needed. Gain insight. Rededicate ourselves to something worthwhile.

Maybe we find ourselves knowing, and liking, who we see in the mirror a little better next month than last.

Ken Bossong

© 2020 Kenneth J. Bossong

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McCoy Tyner, Philly’s Pianist Supreme

Others are doing a good job memorializing McCoy Tyner in widely-available tributes since his passing on Friday, March 6. See, for example, Ben Ratliff’s piece in the New York Times and Dan DeLuca’s in Saturday’s Philadelphia Inquirer. This, then, will not be a comprehensive retrospective of the great pianist’s life or work.

I would be remiss, however, to let the moment pass without expressing appreciation for one of the true masters, and a critical stylistic link between bebop and the avant-garde. Simply put, McCoy Tyner was one of the all-time greats. If you have never heard him, you owe it to yourself.

Among His Influences

Innovation is paramount in Jazz. There are special places of honor reserved for those who create a sound on their instruments that is new, vital, and unmistakably their own. Within a few notes of any recording, there is no doubt when the pianist is McCoy Tyner. He did not come from nowhere, however, and his obvious inspirations constitute a piano Hall of Fame.

Earl Hines is considered an early virtuoso of Jazz piano for his “orchestral” approach to the instrument. That is to say, Hines used unprecedented two-handed skill and facility to unleash all that the keyboard offers. It is no coincidence that Hines is the one pushing a young Louis Armstrong to new heights on some of the latter’s most important early recordings, like “Weather Bird” and the incomparable “West End Blues”.

The Harlem Stride pianists, like James P. Johnson, Willie “The Lion” Smith, and Fats Waller, were so named for the patterns of powerful chords they used to propel their music. Their left hand did the “striding” while belting out the chords that set the foundation for the right hand’s melodic improvisations .

The two high priests of bebop piano were Thelonious Monk and Bud Powell. From Monk, Tyner clearly gleaned the importance of space in music, and the rhythmic and percussive aspects of the instrument. Powell was his hero, though. The Powell influence is unmistakable in the grace, fluidity and melodic majesty of Tyner’s playing. McCoy added to these bop innovations the fullness of his expanded orchestral approach and the propulsive force of his amazing left hand. Thus, he became uniquely capable of creating thrilling tension and beauty.

As explained in an earlier post (“What Makes Jazz So Endearing and Enduring”, 3/4/19), tension and release is one of the most compelling techniques in the music. Tyner’s remarkable ability to build tension, even while creating melodically and harmonically, made him the perfect pianist for a quartet many consider the greatest ever.

The Quartet

John Coltrane made astounding music both before and after his “Classic Quartet”, but there has never been anything like that group – Tyner, Jimmy Garrison on bass, and Elvin Jones on drums. Jones described the group’s interaction as “telepathic”. It’s a good thing they were, too, given the passion, virtuosity, energy, and inventiveness with which they played.

Every Coltrane album on which McCoy plays is a genuine classic. I’ll just mention two. The first of them, My Favorite Things on Atlantic was, as mentioned in a prior post (“Missing The Trane”, 7/18/19), my first Coltrane record. One reason I listened to the title track every day for a year was how often I discovered an idea in Tyner’s solo that developed into something magical in Coltrane’s second turn on the soprano.

It is impossible to present A Love Supreme, as I’m doing in this 55th anniversary year of the iconic Impulse album’s release, without pointing out Tyner’s contributions.

The truth, though, is that you can pick any album from this group’s era in the early Sixties and just sit back in wonder at what is possible in improvised music. In the middle of it all is Tyner’s grounded but relentless attack setting the table for the bristling passion of everyone else’s playing. You can feel Coltrane gearing up for his next solo.

McCoy was the surviving member of The Quartet; his passing will make any presentation of A Love Supreme that much more poignant.

Post ‘Trane

As far as I can tell, there is no such thing as a bad McCoy Tyner recording. Whether leader or sideman, in whatever setting – solo, trio, small group with horns, big band – he guaranteed a level of excellence for the proceedings.

There are Tyner records that will be mentioned by all, like The Real McCoy on Blue Note. (Emails seeking further listening recommendations will be met with enthused reply, by the way.) For now, let’s just mention Time For Tyner, also on Blue Note. As exhilarating as it is beautiful, this is a wonderful example of the special chemistry Tyner had with the extraordinary vibraphonist, Bobby Hutcherson. Other excellent outings feature saxophonists like Gary Bartz, Sonny Fortune, and Azar Lawrence.

Seeing McCoy Tyner live was always a memorable treat, whether as a solo in San Francisco or with a group at the Berks County Jazz Festival. The latter was with a good friend who is a gifted musician in his own right. When the concert was over, we just sat there for a while, speechless. This can happen after experiencing one of the best who ever lived.

Final Note

I have never read or heard a bad word about McCoy Tyner, as a musician or as a person. He has influenced virtually every pianist who has followed him, many profoundly. They have chosen well in selecting a mentor.

The magnitude of such a loss is tempered somewhat by the opportunity (actually, the need) to celebrate the man. And, as always with truly great music, riches await the adventurous listener.

Ken Bossong

© 2020 Kenneth J. Bossong