Thursday, September 17, 2015

John Coltrane on Taking Giant Steps (video)





Many times I write of my love of Hendrix and even though I will never play like that, I can appreciate the magnificence.  In a whole world even beyond that is where you will find John Coltrane and of course I respect him at least as much but his music is something I can't imagine any mortal playing, I have no idea how he does it.  With Hendrix I have some idea but with Coltrane, I just sit down and listen.

And Coltrane sat down to listen to Malcolm X in one of his orations which Coltrane found so important.  It's all the more poignant today as where is Malcolm X or anyone with that vision and foresight.

Coltrane's humility is exceptionally beautiful and he talks of how he had a clever idea for his instrument but the idea ruined it for him.  I can easily identify with that and the beauty part in what happened to Coltrane is this is what led him to the soprano sax.  And with that he made jazz history (as if he had not already).


And always the question comes as to what good one can do when so many are doing bad and don't care.  Protest has destroyed everything I have ever tried to build and there's nothing left now but the only other choice was to stand idly by and do nothing.   There's no way I could have called that good and believed it.

In trying to protest, you will be hated and you will be scorned and there's not much chance it will change anything but to do nothing is even worse.

I do believe what I do is good as someone has to speak and someone has to be the target.  I've been hammered down so many times in so many ways that I stop believing it is good and that nothing is.  Maybe it is true but it does no-one any good to accept that.


Upset in the blog has nothing to do with any melodrama with Cat.  Don't try to make some connection as it doesn't exist.  Her computer broke (as nearly as I can tell).  Any drama comes solely from the fact everything else couldn't go downhill faster if I were skiing in a Bond flick.

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