Brotherly Love, or a Battle of Personalities?

So, with all that's going on in the week (Osama's dead, Royal's are married, woohoo I guess?) I had thought about writing about current events. It was then that I remembered I had a music and brew blog, and that I should probably stick to, well you know, music and brew.

Then I caught Alex Rodriguez's blog for this week. As I've pointed out before, Alex is a fellow trombonist and totally cool dude now based in New Jersey. He's also studying jazz history at Rutgers, and as part of his studies he's helping Professor Dr. Lewis Porter collect stories involving jazz fanatics and their 'first time' with John Coltrane.

It occurred to me that maybe this was a great topic for writing. I gave it some thought, and while the topic is close to my heart, I realized that any sort of attempt at writing down my feelings for Coltrane and his music would turn into a weird, semi-religious sort of piece. Coltrane is much larger than a blog post and infinitely more important, and I'll just add that my first real Coltrane experience happened out here in the woods with the aid of what we'll call 'herbal enhancements.' At any rate something else caught my thoughts last week that was a bit easier to get my mind around, if not quite as interesting as Coltrane.

There's a type of camaraderie that goes on between musicians, one you can see on the bandstand, even in the largest of groups. The quiet jokes to one another on stage, the looks cast between them, the tapping of feet and the physical pulse that encompasses the whole ensemble. Musicians come together like this on stage because without such companionship the art would be lifeless. This is true of any functioning ensemble, and for the most part the audience can see, feel and of course hear the connection going on on stage. To a musician though this is only the end product, and what goes on outside of a performance is something completely different. To the average music fan a musician can be type-cast in their head as a happy, slightly dirty artist, content with their surroundings and colleagues.

There is also a lot of competition in the music community. Gigs are few and far between, and it takes a strong personality to carve a spot in a city. When musicians get together, especially jazz musicians, you tend to see those personalities clash. Most cats are used to being in charge at a gig, at least on their horn. They like having control because it means a job for them. Underneath the jokes, behind the looks, hidden by the foot tapping is a steady conflict between players, especially those of the same instrument. A question as simple as "how do we set up" lends itself to the quarrel, and little things like that can really drive people apart.

I've seen it at every level from high school to the Phunkestra. I've even seen it rear its ugly head out here in the boonies. Control of ones craft means work down the line, and any musician with a full workload knows this. Maybe though this kind of conflict helps shape the finished product. I once watched a huge argument between two Philly's cats happen one rehearsal, only to hear the best playing out of both of them the very next gig. Competition is what really drives the best of them, and in the end the best resolution to a fight is a killer set.

I'll be filling in with Trombone 8 this Friday at Jimmy Mak's! Yes, you read it right, eight of them (And yes, the title to that link is perfect). Great, great group led by Ben Medler, with literally all of the top trombone guys in town. See you there!