Welcome to this new blog!

MUSIC & MIRRORS

Why this blog?

Well, it’s been a while since the idea came up. I have to admit that I most of the time feel uneasy when I read about today’s music and its scene, especially jazz music, since there’s very few things I actually can relate to. I’ve been wondering a lot about how to deal with that position, also because ‘just carry on making the music the way I feel it’ sometimes just seems to widen that gap. So I figured writing about it myself might be an appropriate way to explore what’s going on. 

Can’t I just let the music speak for itself?

Well, that’s what I believed for a whole long time, but too many misunderstandings later - and not only about my own music - I feel that it’s ok to change tactics. Music is the most abstract of all art forms. It is part of what happens when you let go of words and concepts. That’s probably one of the reasons why it is so appealing to me and so many other people, and it’s also a part that is at times even hard to accept for all of us. It also means that it is for a big part a matter of initiation, even if that idea is not exactly very popular. And written words can be part of that initiation.

So the aim is to instruct others?

Not necessarily. I do it to clarify stuff for myself and share that outcome with others. I like to write, although I don’t feel like someone who’s especially good with words. So the exercise attracts me. And once the exercise is done, it’s nice to share the thoughts with others, just like that but also to have some feedback and start an exchange of ideas. Anyways, in many ways, learning for oneself and teaching others often comes down to the same thing.
And there’s so much to be discovered all the time. The one and only reason i went ‘in the music business’ is that I like music, period. It has been the most important premiss ever since I became a professional musician. The utterly naive side of that also means that being in the scene still is a day to day learning process, in a way that hasn’t always exactly been comfortable.
One of the reasons for that is that my musical approach is very much about what happens if you let go of the whole persona/spectacular dimension of playing music; I spent a lot of time trying to give the music I play the exact properties that too often afterwards have been mentioned to describe the music's perceived imperfections. So writing this is on the one hand a means to try and make sense of the world I am exposed to, and on the other hand my way of creating a shared reality that can be a leverage to throw some more music in the world.

Is that the where the blog’s name comes from?

Yes. Writing all this gives me a mirror in which I can see myself, and what I’m surrounded by. If we look together, we’ll see ourselves and what we are surrounded by.

Do I feel it’s generally important for a musician to take part in multiple parts of the music enterprise?

Yes, I’ve come to see that it is a crucial activity, besides just playing and joyfully promoting ourselves. Writing about music is one possibility. Set up concert events or a record label would be some of the other possibilities. Not because we do better what we do ourselves, but because it’s precious to have that side of the circus organized from the musician’s point of view too, with the energy of a musician. In the same way, I would totally encourage all promoters, journalists or listeners to pick up an instrument and play, alone and with other people, at home or out there in the open, if it’s not already the case.

What’s next here?

There’s a whole lot to be sorted out! So I’ll write from time to time about the things that fascinate or puzzle me in music and the musical world. To nurture my topics, it wouldn’t mind if people sent me some remarks, questions or suggestions. And I’ll be glad to post other people’s writings too, now and then. And yes that’s an invitation..