Bredonborough The sun is shining
08.15
Bredonborough.
The sun is shining, the sky is blue. Fabbo.
WillyFred came to play as my feet hit the floor. He has now been fed. WillyFred understands that I am taking care of him. My understanding is that Wilf is taking care of me while the Minx is away for two days.
Morning reading…
10.25 An e-enquiry to DGM…
Sent: 05 June 2012 16:17
To: DGM
Subject: In care of: A question for Mr. Fripp
As a musician I have a question for Mr. Fripp…
Question: What is the role of joy in music?
How may we represent joy to ourselves? When I rise of a morning, WillyFred hurtles into view, full of the joy of life, eager to play. It strikes me, seeing this leaping little life unit: Joy is a natural response to being alive. When and if I feel otherwise, what does this tell me? Why is it that, for example, when dealing with UMG, I feel otherwise? This is not thinking otherwise. If I think otherwise, it would be that engaging with UMG is profoundly unnatural.
What does it matter what I think about the role of joy in music? Do I feel joy? I feel joy in the moment; such as in parts of the later Beethoven string quartets: Yes! thank you God (whatever God might mean to me) for Grumpy Ludwig!
My primary feeling in musical encounters is of hope. Hope makes everything possible; and joy is a response, in the moment, to embracing what is possible. But that’s thinking. When I feel hope, life is possible all over again, despite all evidence and gloomy prognoses to the contrary. And no-one feeling hope is going to use the word prognoses, although they might if they were thinking about it.
Hope is what kept me going as a young player, when the juice of the Creative Impulse switched-on big time, acting through and powering-up rock music and popular culture. The direct experience of hope, that the world might be changed – even by the act of listening! - persuaded many of the generation that we had opportunities to play parts, in that strange and uncertain world, to change behavior through a change in perceptions. In a word, hope.
Hope is what kept me going through the insanity of life on the periphery of rock stardom. Hope is what took me to Sherborne house, then to NYC, then to Guitar Craft and my marriage to the Minx. And here, is joy.
Hope is what kept me going through Endless Grief.
Then, around 2001/2, my hope for the transformational power of creativity, acting globally through popular culture, changed. My hope currently lies in the possibilities for qualitative action within small groups, local events, little people, acting together in networks. When our hope is undermined by clear evidence that our lives are profoundly unnatural, good to listen to the music that speaks to us. Music is speaking to us, to the extent that we are able to listen.
Much of my professional life has been a pretty joyless affair, other than the music itself; and the music itself is a very small part of the life of a professional player. The KC Euro tour of 2003 was described in this Diary as a joyless exercise in futility. The repetition of what has gone before is not a qualitative engagement in living. An audient who expects to be handed magic, in exchange for a ticket and their hard-earned pay, is a passive listener. The act of listening that changes the world is active: an intentional engagement with the music, in the moment. In that engagement, a magical encounter becomes possible, although not guaranteed. Magic for a passive listener is possible, but very unlikely. Magic for an audient who feels entitled to their portion of it, a miracle.
My professional choices regarding King Crimson are limited and constrained by an ongoing sense of responsibility to what brought Crim to life. KC is not a professional undertaking, although much of its activity has taken place in a professional context. The current professional environment, The Market Place, reflected in listening and performance practices bent by market values, is not one where KC can flourish.
There is magic, and it is in the air, but it doesn’t quite come up and bite you on the ass. Now, it tends to whisper and wave gently. We have to be a little smarter today.
15.03 Lunchtime practising.
Over the road to World HQ…
… for organizing.
A call from the Minx in Canterbury, where she has been doing publicity. An interesting development in her business life.
15.14 To an Italian Crafty…
it is difficult to exaggerate the importance of being a reliable person. if we are reliable, other people’s lives can change because we provide their chaotic lives with a point of stability. this is a big thing.
we should not expect thanks for this!
and listening to music: here we may find glimpses of a perfect world, harder to know within our everyday.
18.05 Book and shelf organizing. Home to practising.
The sun is shining.
19.19 More practising.
A call from the Sistery Person, on holiday in Paris with her friend Nancy. The last time Patricia and Nancy were in Paris together they saw me being booed at
a G3 show. Toyah, pals Richard and John and the Janssens
were also there.
Back to practising.
22.03 Done.
