If anything is true I’ve found about starting this blog is I’m often writing about watching something, TV or movies. I watch too much. What is interesting is what I like to watch within the things I watch. I like to see what is said off camera or the interactions of guests off camera on Conan or Letterman. I like to see what players shake hands or trade jererys after a soccer game–see what players they respect. I think listening to music falls into this watching category, but it’s listening, but it’s still passive let’s say. I like to hear what’s said between songs on a live concert cd. How the artist alters the song just a bit. How the guitar tweaks a tad. I guess that’s all improvisation. There’s a section in the movie Word Play where a great piano player is talking about how he has to perform a variety of styles of music for the first time just from the notes or sheets of music he receives from an auditioning singer. Once, a woman singer brought a sheet of music of his favorite song. He altered the melody a bit, he could tell she knew the song well, and she still sang it perfectly. Afterwards, she faced not the judges but him and said that was beautiful. Seems like a synergy of improvisation and worth watching or listening to.
In some ways it’s finding or seeing that genuine interaction between people and that somehow helps you connect to them….