In one of the deeper medicine ceremonies I particpated in, I was shown a dynamic that has remained with me: the requirement to discern between the singer and the song, and then choose the song.
Especially when one becomes proficient at playing, it is easy to "fall in love" with the art of playing music. The better one sounds, the more one can feel good focusing on how beautiful the performance is. However, if one is focusing on the singer - how beautifully the music is played - the way is lost.
Think of it this way: in 40 - 60 years, what will the singer be? Likely a pile of dust, right? But the song? The song holds the connection to the eternal, as if it were made of of infinity itself. That is where one's devotion has to be aimed.
All kinds of good things flow out of this approach - one becomes less nervous, listens better and flaws in the playing become much less daunting, leading to the kind of playing where the flaws sound just as good as the "perfect" notes.
Several people asked me to elaborate on the context of past-life and after-life referrences in the last newsletter. To be clear, I have no recollection of a past life, but rather, I assume there is a connection out of pure logic - everything here is currently interconnected, so I see no logical reason why before and after conception should be any different. As for an after-life reality, well... if you deny that, playing as a spiritual practice is sort of... off the table, nest-ce pas?
After meeting and playing with the young Kora master Kinobe in Uganda last year it was clear our connection was deep.(the Kora is a 21 string African harp). He declared that I was where he was heading, and I sensed such a familiarity with his appreciation of what music can mean to a person. As we parted, I could only find one suggestion for him, and that was that he not seek to improve further technically, as it would only lead to frustration - at 22 years old, he was already a master of that. "Rather, focus on the spaces between the notes." We both laughed at this, and knew exactly how true it was.
Kinobe is planning to come and spend a month playing, touring and recording with me here next February/March.
Our project will be called Medicine Winds. Get ready for African energy!
