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I'm suffering from a level of musical lassitude, a condition brought about by a
total emotional investment in music until I hit the age of, say, 32. Back then
(all of 4 years ago) I was a pretty solid fan of the Clumsy Lovers, and still
really enjoyed Bela Fleck at a deep level... but I'm stretching to find the
next thing for me.
My musical interests as a kid were pretty out of whack. I could play the
piano and the Saxophone, but until high school it never became clear that the
point of playing was to actually sound like you knew what the hell you were
doing. Until that point, I was still playing because it had been a requirement.
Then I discovered Miles Davis. It turned out that the first CD I ever bought
was a random Miles selection from the shelves of Quimper Sound in Port Townsend,
Washington: Kind of Blue. I bonded with that album and to a degree with more of
Miles' stuff. High school continued through Dave Barduhn arrangements and The
Cound Basie Big Band, Ellington, Kenton, Goodman, etc. (Thanks, Mark!)
College was Pink Floyd, more Jazz, Paul Simon's work of the time. I discovered
Bela Fleck in there somewhere.
Each of these musicians kept me emotionally committed for a great span of time.
I just can't find anything that seems to fit anymore, though. The Clumsy
Lovers and Bela Fleck continue to do good work, but other than the technical
accomplishments I see in them, I'm just not invested.
I realize that I often ramble without really saying anything. Today is one of
those days. I recently saw the Clumsy Lovers perform again and it was very much
a different band than the one I fell in love with at The Blues Bouquet. Most
of the members have left and it seems clear that the ones who are left aren't
really invested in their own music anymore, so I think my brain blew a fuse that
night that said "...then why should I care?" I went to the show out of habit.
I've always gone when they were in town, but their last two albums have seen
little of my attention and the new one sits in my car unlistened to.
So if anyone out there knows of a band with a firm grip on the single-father-
ex-floydian-saxophonist-engineer demographic, I'd be quite interested to hear.
I did my top ten games list, but that's a different story. I tried doing top
ten albums, but I am neither John Cusack nor Nick Hornby, so I abandoned the
effort. But it did give me appreciation for Rob's dilema when he attempted the
same thing in High Fidelity.
-rbarry
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