Say

John Mayer says stupid shit from time to time. This should come as a surprise to absolutely no one. He's been doing it for years. Taken out of context, a lot of the things he says can be, and often are, absolutely ridiculous.

But you know what? At least he says what's on his mind. He'll never be one of those 'celebrities' you look at and wonder just who in the hell he is. We know who he is, because he tells us. Through his music, mostly, and sometimes through his interviews.

And maybe he goes to far, says the complete wrong thing and doesn't make his point as clearly as he could or should. But he tries. He ventures to explain things that no one else can or will. Even if he fails at that, isn't there something to say about him going for it? I think there is.

In recent years, it seems that the majority of people seem to think that freedom of speech is great!.....

Freedom of speech, but only if what you're saying doesn't piss anyone off. That sounds like a great policy to me! (That's sarcasm, by the way.)

There is, frankly, too much media in the world today. Absolutely too much. Probably about 400% too much. And about 95% of the excess is absolutely trash; garbage that no one should support. But they do, and then artists get asked for more frequent interviews, and they have to think of new things to say. They get asked about things that they have no business commenting on, just because the interviewers need to have something to ask, something to record on their little tape players and take back to their editors.

My point is that if you actually read the interview, an open-minded person can comprehend what he was going for, what point he was trying to make. He may not have done a stellar job of it, but he wasn't being malicious, racist, or anything else. He was just a guy giving his opinion when he was asked for it.

All this has nothing to do with me thinking that he can do no wrong. I've been accused of this before, and it's absolute bullshit.

I respect him because he doesn't have a problem saying 'This is who I am. Take it or leave it.' He doesn't pander to the masses, though he certainly has the masses he could pander to. At the end of the day, he says what he wants, makes the music that he wants, and he can do it because he's a brilliant musician. This isn't to say that gives him a free pass to just say whatever he wants to say and there won't be consequences, and I think he knows that too.

And he's a smart and gracious enough person to give genuine apologies when he knows he has to.

Can't really say that happens too often with celebrities these days, can you?

Gershwin and Goode

I had the chance to go see the VSO for the first time on the weekend. Remember my blog about Rhapsody in Blue?

I had no idea Maestro Bramwell Tovey was such a funny guy. He started the evening by saying, "Welcome to a non-Olympic event!" and the jokes kept on coming. Can't say I've ever laughed at the symphony before. It was a wonderful experience.

The evening started with Strike Up The Band, which was both fitting and cheeky. I was four rows back, right in front of the harpist. So close. Too close. I could literally read the sheet music of a few of the violinists. Too close. I prefer to watch symphonies from the balcony, since not only is it a better visual experience, to be able to see everyone playing, but I also find the sound is a million times better.

Next up was Grofe's Grand Canyon Suite: On the Trail, which is just an amazing piece of music that tells a story like you wouldn't believe. Talk about cheeky. You can practically hear the donkeys at the bottom of the Grand Canyon as this is played. Wonderful.

The composer in residence with the VSO right now is Scott Goode, who showcased a 25 minute long piece (Between the Rooms for Trumpet and Orchestra) that people went nuts over. I was not a fan of it at all. Like, at all. It was disjointed, it was a trumpet feature (the only trumpet I can really tolerate is jazz trumpet), and none of the movements seemed connected at all. I feel like he tried to do something really, really cool, but he missed the mark. It was just too much. Too much brass, too much percussion. It was too eager, like he was trying to say, "Look at this! Look how complex this is!" instead of letting the music speak for itself.

I also said all this to my friend without realizing that the composer was standing about 5 feet away (damn seats close to the stage!).

And what do I know? I'm no composer.

I was a little wary when I didn't see a feature pianist listed in the program. After all, Rhapsody in Blue is a piano piece (which, if you know the history behind it, you can understand better). I certainly didn't expect that Tovey would play the piece himself, standing periodically to give cues and conduct. I've never seen anything like that either. It was kind of amazing, actually, to see a symphony practically conducting itself while the maestro lost himself in the music.

The night ended with the Porgy and Bess suite, which is where the great 'standard' Summertime comes from. The suite was beautiful, again telling the story vividly, without confusion. When it was supposed to, the music sounded like New York. Conversely, it sounded like desperation at times.

I walked away wondering what more Gershwin could have done if he hadn't died at 38.

And also thinking that I was too close to the stage, but not close enough to the music. I wanted to be playing it, to be a part of it. This hasn't happened in a while, the urge to dig out the flute and run some scales, play some of my old concert pieces. It was nice to have that inspiration.

Not so nice to spend the rest of the weekend wondering what could/would have happened if I'd stuck with the music in the first place...