Ben Wolfe

It seems these days, there’s an abundance of music designed to impress the audience, make the “people” feel good, wash away the worries of everyday life, whatever that means. I guess these ideals sound good, but more often then not, they’re excuses for selfish expression. When I’m playing music, and my band mates are trying to knock out the crowd with technical virtuosity and the like, it doesn’t seem to offer much to the other musicians on the bandstand – or much to the music we’re supposed to be making together. It’s not hard to impress and there’s no formula on how to move someone – in fact, music for the masses isn’t designed for truth and art, etc. It seems to me that if the musicians focus on the business at hand, making music, and spend less time worrying about whether the people (or the other musicians) like them or are impressed by them, the music will have a much better chance of being good, of being authentic. Also, wouldn’t the chances of impressing the audience, making the people feel good, and washing away the worries of everyday life, be more likely if the music was honest, real, and about the music?

That Barack Obama will most likely be elected president gives me a great feeling of hope for our future  - if he is not, I along with the people I love will feel profound disappointment.

Doing Time: 25 Years of Prison Writing (A PEN American Center Prize Anthology)  - Bell Gale Chevigny

Lone Survivor – Marcus Luttrell  (The right wing sentiments were a bit much for me but an interesting read nonetheless).

Dreaming Up America – Russell Banks

Every time I fly which has been often lately, there’s a new charge. Seven dollars for a blanket? Forty-five for five inches more leg space? Bringing a second piece of luggage requires some thought; forget about the bass.

I had a great time at this festival, which was no surprise. They treated us wonderfully and the audience was very receptive to the music we were playing. I hope I get a chance to play this festival with my group in the future.

I’m really looking forward to playing with Benny and Greg Hutchinson Friday night at the Mt. Hood Jazz festival.  I’ve played with both individually over the years but this is the first time the three of us all played together since my second CD  Bagdad Theater (1997).

Bill Evans with NHØP and Alan Dawson playing Beautiful Love.

I’ve always been struck how this quartet plays with such intensity yet so physically relaxed.

Four very interesting books that I recently enjoyed reading.

The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century
- Alex Ross

The Fire Next Time
- James Baldwin

The Dying Animal
- Philip Roth

Soul On Ice
- Eldridge Cleaver

This past June I spent a week in Macon at the Georgia Academy for the Blind (GAB).  This was a Juilliard residency at the GAB Summer Camp program. With three Juilliard students (Kris Bowers, Chris Burbank, James Burton), I spent the week working with the kids, teaching them about jazz through demonstration, listening, and coaching six different ensembles. The week culminated with a concert where all the ensembles performed.

Going into this week I had no real idea of what to expect. I’ve been around people who are blind but never worked with a group of blind students. The students ranged in age roughly from 11–20. We didn’t know what level of musicianship to expect.  Not knowing what to expect is normal fare, what made this unusual was of the six groups only one of them had members that played instruments.

And so the camp began with us saying hello and playing them an assortment of recordings. The response from these kids was overwhelming, their engagement and joy was immediately present.  When asked if they had questions hands were always flying. These students made us feel welcome and wanted.

Now like I said, we had a concert to prepare and only one of the six groups had students that played instruments.  It didn’t seem to matter to them. One group would have each member sing a blues; another would play a song that was made up with the 3-2 or 2-3 clave they immediately mastered. etc.  The group that did play instruments performed an arrangement of “So What” and another tune they learned during the week. It was quite an experience for all of us to be around that kind of enthusiasm.

I must say I have never been around a group of people of that size where everyone so comfortably had each other’s back. They seemed to always have support and encouragement for each other and reveled in all their successes.  It was a great experience for me and I think it was for my fellow teachers as well. I hope I get the chance to return next summer.