Just Say "Yes!"

I was deeply moved by the music I experienced a few days ago at the Disney Concert Hall. My friend called me with only a couple of hours to spare before the start time. She was stuck with unused tickets to the first performance in the jazz series at the Disney Concert Hall and needed my help. After a few seconds of hesitation (making sure my spouse would be home to sit with our child), I said "Yes!" 

I am so glad I did! I had no expectations of the evening's performers, a jazz trio and a jazz/classical orchestra, so I was pleasantly surprised. The music opened up something in me, which continues to vibrate and buzz. I love it when incredible forms of artistic expression enter my life unexpectedly!

The Brad Mehldau trio, comprising bass, drum and piano, took a moment to get started, but once they found their groove, the music cast a spell. My friend invited me to close my eyes and listen.

"It feels like swimming," she declared.

As my friend grooved on the sounds, she occasionally exclaimed "Yeah!", an "Amen" to the captivating music. The trio of talented musicians moved through covers and their own compositions in a variety of styles from bossanova (as my friend noticed) to straight-ahead jazz. I’m not musically educated, as in I can’t call out the proper names of composers, styles or genres, et al., but I do know what stirs my soul, and it did!

This rich and deep music laid a solid foundation for the phenomenal group that appeared as the second act, Billy Childs and Company. They offered incredible re-interpretations of the music of Laura Nyro. I had heard of Nyro before but knew only vaguely about her immense talent as well as her influence on more well-known artists. I knew of her way-back-when association with David Geffin from a documentary I watched on PBS. Nyro broke Geffin’s heart when she didn’t sign with his newly formed Asylum records back in the late ‘60s. (Why do I remember such random factoids?)

Childs and Company was unlike anything I had heard before. Up to 13 musicians including a string quartet, drummer, pianist (Childs), guest cellist (for the first couple of numbers), stand-up bassist, acoustic guitarist, some brass players, and, finally, two amazing singers, knocked me out! The music painted entire landscapes, which I inhabited unreservedly. One number, in particular, stirred me to tears. It was a piece Nyro wrote about her lover who died of a heroin overdose. Words cannot describe the combination of soaring voice and soul-stirring instrumentation that induced the tears. The group brought Nyro’s stories to life beautifully.

My friend related, “This is who I really am,” during the concert, referring to the opening herself to experiencing the music. “It’s art,” she added as we headed for the exit. “It’s more than art,” I responded, but knew not what to call it instead. Life?

I am so grateful my friend offered me the opportunity to experience this music. It was magic! I needed it much more than I knew. The work shocked me into recognizing I had been caught up in a cycle of “soul neglect”.

The only remedy for soul neglect is to create space in one’s soul to be moved by art. It’s very easy to neglect one’s inner life, the life of the soul, by focusing only on one’s exterior life, which, more often than not, numbs the mind and crushes the soul. When my friend called on me to accompany her to the concert, my soul knew to say “yes!”  

The spectacular music removed the dust and debris from my neglected soul. I am refreshed, renewed and so very grateful.