They came onto the stage,
These three renowned musicians,
And they played,
They played with absolute brilliance,
Their instruments part of their life,
Part of their being.
They had been playing for many, many years,
Their interpretation of jazz was superb,
Superb to most;
But for me something was missing,
The spark that most bands strike in me
Was not there.
Perhaps in age their spark had gone,
The spark they must have had,
Many years ago.
I left the venue feeling sad,
The glory of jazz escaped me this night,
Perhaps they were playing by rote,
And this saddened me.
The evening for me,
Was jazz without sparkle.
-
Author:
Goldfinch60 (Pseudonym) (
Offline) - Published: November 30th, 2017 03:28
- Comment from author about the poem: I went to the Jazz Club last night, as I do every month. The performers were very highly rated and the leader, a reeds player, I had seen before and he was superb, then. But last night there seemed to be something missing so I wrote this poem about the evening.
- Category: Reflection
- Views: 29
Offline)
Comments7
Maintaining performance is one of those obstacles that hinder even the most experienced. I have been giving a series of art demonstrations around the county showing different abstract techniques. They have gone down really well hence proving popular and yet a few weeks ago doing nothing different the evening went flat - I don't know why - could have been I was just off - could have a more hostile audience to all this abstract rubbish but that's how it goes. Great scribe Andy.
Thanks Michael, it may well have been me being off but jazz normally lifts me up and these were some of the top players in the country, maybe they are getting passed their best but I saw one of them a few weeks ago and he was superb.
Well written and expressed
Thanks Tony.
Welcome
I have shared your experience, Goldie. Some nights a group is brilliant ... others, not so much. Go figure? Well expressed in this good write!
Thanks Louis, yes it happens sometimes.
The sparkle may have been missing in the jazz performance, but it definitely is not missing in your writing!
And you brought up an interesting subject. The way we experience something, be it music, art, or anything else. I think that experience is made up of two parts, one the performer, and two yourself. As you mentioned in the poem, these were renowned musicians, playing superbly, so your expectations were very high to start with. Maybe too high. With lower expectations you might have perceived it differently. Or, it could have been that they were off their usual playing for whatever reason, and did not meet your high expectation. In order to be totally satisfied, performance has to meet expectation.
Very true Fred, perhaps my expectations were too high. I have had occasions when I had not expected younger groups to meet my expectations to absolutely blow my mind. This life we lead has so many surprises for us. Thank you for your comments they are always appreciated.
What an interesting subject and well written. I like this. I've done a bit of gigging and my argument against it is that you reach the point of monotony hammering out the same songs and that starts to kill the very songs that once inspired you. I guess jazz might be different though with more improvisation.
Thank you Jeremy, I don't think it is different in any style of music and I listen to many types, it could be the monotony or it may well have been me not being responsive to the music on this occasion but what I do know is that music is so meaningful in my life.
A fine write Gold. It was me. I ruined it. I turned up and sang along. Then everyone left! lol.
Thanks Orchi, I couldn't hear you!
Ahh, good thing they played loud enough to drown me out!
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