I think it was in Highschool days, when we had to learn old Japanese literature, and Chinese Literature (Called Kanbun). The words in old Japanese is funny sometimes. I used make fun of those words, or in Chinese Literature (from the time of confuscious) class, I only looked at the illustration of Anceint Chinese arichitecture and imagine whatever food people lived there used to eat..maybe, Chinese barbequed pork??). To write it in simple way, I had Zero interest in those old literature.
Recently, my friend who is a director of NYU Jazz Steinhardt, has been working with the interview series with Jazz legends and current top NY musicians, on podcast. Every time he publishes new interview, he is nice enough to send me a link.
Among them was an interview with a vibraphone player, Stefon Harris.
He stated that he meditate every morning so that he can observe whatever happening at that moment and try to see what is going on and discover what the option he has to solve or go through the certai situation. He thinks this is what Jazz musicians do in creating music and he also relates this to the daily happenings including whatever happening in this whole world. Mr. Harris is a great musician and at the same time very interesting person to me. Under this concept, he even works as a business consultant along with musical works, I hear.
The word he used, “observe”, got me thinking of my own culture, not the present one but the one from a few hundred years ago: “Haiku”, especially Haiku written by legendary Basho Matsuo.
Basho is a very well known Haiku master. The Haiku is a poet but uses only very limited words (Maybe an equivalent of 3 to 4 words in English). This is considered to be a highly sophisticated art form of Japan. At least one Haiku by Basho, almost all Japanese people know. Basho is that famous.
Now, in order to express whatever happening in your mind with only a few words, you have to have a very specific mind set, that is to only observe the moment. I think this is what connects me Steffon Harris interview to Basho.
In improvised music, whatever happened in that moment is only matters. Regardless of whether good thing or not so good thing happening in that moment, we should observe what is going on.
I read somewhere a statement by Indian philosopher that when you look at something and feel something, we should not put that feeling into words even internally, as the moment we put the feeling into words, it will loose the real significant meaning. Haiki uses words of course but severely limited number of words give the same effect as the feeling without being put into words.
This might apply not only for the improvised music but for the things happening in everyday life. We tend to look at the things and immediately start thinking, but the thinking might not be necessary as long as we observe and feel.
So, before I practice, I have started reading just one line by Basho, just to feel the way he observe things. I feel this changes how I practice, how I feel music.
However nothing major has happened to me. It is not like I am reaching the enlightenment. On some days, this seems to work nicely, and other days it doesn’t. I don’t become like confucius all of a sudden. At least, though, to observe has become part of my practice and goal.