Getting a little concerned about the use of the word great in reference to music. I know a lot of really good musicians who seem to be concerned with how the world perceives them or whether they are getting the proper recognition for their contributions. My suggestion is to not worry about that. The work will speak for itself or not. What should matter are things like your ability to enrich your spirit or the spirit of others, being able to make a living, if that is important to you. The reality is that most artists are not great, IMO. The bar is high. John Coltrane, Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Wonder, Bach, Beethoven .... you see what I mean? I am human, but I almost never worry about where I stand on the big arbitrary list. My goal is to just keep getting better at communicating what I truly feel in the moment. Even great artists are keenly aware of their own shortcomings and its hard to keep ones ego out of the way at times. Theres nothing wrong with being driven, but as you gain more experience you hopefully learn to enjoy the moment. My concern is that the cult of mediocrity is tricking everyone into thinking that great is some easily attainable thing that you can buy in a drug store. Trying to convince people that what you are doing is great through FB posts that diminish the work of others or describe your perception of what you are doing as great dont actually make you great. You either are or arent. Again, the bar is HIGH. Dont get me wrong, Im not trying to be the usage of the word great police. Phrases like great show last nite! or It felt great to play today are not what Im referring to. I could write a book on this subject. Wouldnt that be great? ;^)
Posted on: Thu, 13 Nov 2014 17:39:35 +0000
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