Music and the Spirit

There's been a number of lively discussions over at Brilliant Corners concerning jazz and the spiritual element. It's got me thinking about my own views on music and spirituality and I thought I might explore them a little.

Seems to me that nothing gets more controversy started than when people bring up the spiritual in music....especially in jazz. It's actually not so controversial in classical music, where the spirituality of late Beethoven or Bach is regularly commented on by listeners and critics alike. Brahms Requiem can be seen as a beautiful meditation on the spiritual end of life but suggest the same about late Duke and people seem taken aback...at least if you are talking about the Japan Suite and not the Sacred Concerts. Stockhausen's insistence that he is from Saturn never seemed to attract criticism to his music (though people did make fun of him) and yet lots of people want to throw out all of Sun RA's catalog for his spiritual views.

When the subject of jazz and spirituality comes up there are usually a few reactions: 1) Why can't the music just be music? 2) Why do musicians engage in self-delusion? And 3) Why don't people just feed the hungry if they want to be of help to the planet rather than dressing up in yellow robes and skull caps and talking mumbojumbo about music as the healing force of the universe? I'm going to try to tackle the first question in this post.

The answer is....of course music can just be about music. There's nothing wrong with that at all. Actually most music in the history of the west is probably just that...music about music....or at.least about producing pleasant and entertaining sounds. Even tough music such as Milton Babbitt' s is fundamentally music about music. Its actually what.makes Babbitt such a witty composer....he sets up musical jokes and problems and solves them in serial language. Its music as puzzle.

All of us musicians look at music in this way at least sometimes. Deciding what to play over a series of changes is an intellectual puzzle...as is harmony and structure. And most musicians probably can have excellent careers without aspiring to anything more. But to me what separates the great journeyman from the deepest musicians is a more or less, serious dedication to what for want of a better word, I'd call the spiritual. Its not so much about ascribing to some religion or world view, though it can. Its more about purity of intention when playing. The resulting music can be deeply serious like Trane, or can be secular sounding...like Sonny Rollins or Rahsaan...its not so much about the outer aspect of the music as much as its about the intentions while you play. Rahsaan is a great example of this to me....he could wail over "I Say a Little Prayer For You" and make the rather trite song crackle with life. Pharoah continues this tradition with so many of his ballades....he has an absolutely amazing recording of The Greatest Love of All....something I never thought was possible.

The great musicians seem to live their.phrases...whether they are virtuoso passages or lyrical flights...its in the notes and even more deep in the sound. One note of Trane's can reduce you to tears just by the way it is played. This depth of attention I believe is healing to the listener in ways we are only beginning to comprehend.