09.30
DGM HQ.
Look closer & you’ll see an omen of good fortune manifesting as a pigeon, on the greenhouse…
AOL remains unconnectable-to although broadband continues up & happening. So, I shall leave for Bredonborough before lunch, half a day earlier than customary.
17.42 Bredonborough.
Between Broad Chalke & the A303, before passing Stonehenge, en route to Salisbury Plain, Pewsey, Marlborough, the A417, the M5 and then country roads here, there is Wilton. On North Street in Wilton is the antique dealer Don Romain, of AJ Romain & Sons…
Mr. Romain is one of two dealers with whom I have an ongoing relationship (the other is Michael Legg of Dorchester). Both are proper job dealers. Mr. Romain tells me that he doesn’t sell me anything: the pieces sell themselves. A good salesman, this man.
When I visit DGM, I visit Mr. Romain on the way or from; and he always has something of interest. Not necessarily a piece that speaks to me and calls out – buy me now! - but always a piece or two with history & a story & provenance. Good to look through the eyes of one who knows, as also to listen through the ears of one who knows.
One of Mr. Romain’s pieces, in which I expressed some interest (ie the piece was attempting to sell itself to me), is this small table…
It came from Max Gate...
… and was, most likely, the property of Thomas Hardy…
… but the piece is going to a much-loved Granddaughter of Mr. Romain, a gift from their Grandfather.
On his recent travels, in addition to 3 excellent pieces, Mr. Romain has acquired some fine silk hats…
Just a couple of swells…
18.07 RF session fees:: Posted by DevlinC on March 16, 2007
It seems that Robert has been participating in a number of sessions recently (both Theo Travis and Robert Miles in just the last few weeks, at least) and I had to wonder - to put it bluntly - how much a Fripp session costs, or are these just personal contributions due to friendship with the artist, with money coming from sales? Not in a vulgar way, I’m interested just to know how much I need to raise...
Both Theo & Roberto, as also Porcupine Tree & Jakko Jakszyk, are on the special Collaborators’ Rate: either £4,823,221 per hour or pro bono.
18.27 This is an interesting contribution from RFripp…
… and very difficult to play with this right hand and/or this approach to picking: I recommend, firstly, that the alternate picking begin with a down (ie release) stroke, rather than an up; secondly, alternate picking, rather than the follow-through down picking in the arpeggiated section.
Cf Anthony Garone’s picking…here and here
A detailed commentary & presentation on the picking necessary to play Fracture & FraKctured can only, properly, take place on a Guitar Craft course. Picking is only one aspect of guitar playing, guitar playing one aspect of the player’s life. But how we hold our pick, and how we use the pick, is how we live all the parts of our life. To change our picking implies that how we live our life also changes.
reply to:: Posted by London on March 15, 2007
Jon: … I believe it is always necessary to stand behind one’s own work…
RF: Agreed: we stand behind our work & accept responsibility for it.
Jon: … and in the case of the musician this is done by performing a body of
work to an audience.
RF: Not quite. There are more than one strategies available; presenting music to an audience in live performance is only one of them & need not imply the intent of the performer to “stand behind their work”.
Secondly, what kind of audience? Conventionally, if we are presenting a piece of work for acknowledgement / recognition / approval, the presentation is made to a community of the (at least) competent. That is, the work is presented to those who are sufficiently experienced / capable of passing a reliable judgment. This requires a high level of training, skill & experience; which competence has itself been recognized & acknowledged
Jon: In the case of KC then, I would assume, judging, alone, by the amount of interest present on this site, that there is opportunity, which you mentioned... I interpret that as a willing audience that is eager to hear music of the desired performer.
RF: Willing? That’s a longer story. Hearing? Well, trained listening is a rarity, among players as well as audients; and I wonder where photography, autography & recording, fit into Jon’s picture of audience behaviour?
Jon: … Considering the legacy it has, why not go out doing what they do best, performing live…
RF: And why not? A better question is, why? But that has recently been addressed on the Guestbook. So, why not?
There is a significant distance between what is possible & what is actual. Historically, it has increasingly fallen to me to close the gap. When the Crims walk onstage, we are equal partners in the enterprise. Prior to that, the inequality is desperate.
Jon: its just my opinion but to me KC deserves proper closure and to my mind this is the only way to do it. We’ll both see what happens in the future, until then we can sit and postulate all we want. -Jon
RF: How wonderful it would for KC to return to the road & I thank Jon for his encouragement.
Putting aside business & musical preparations, the traveling, the time away from home, the feeble income stream, what is live performance? Below, three small snapshots from two days in Chicago, three small examples of being slowly fed on, small bite by small bite. Extend this from two days to over three decades; and then wonder why the carcass being devoured might walk away with what is left of them intact. Some Diary readers might consider this a little harsh, a trifle exaggerated. Regrettably, it is not…
March 14, 2003Written by Robert Fripp
When Pat & I arrived for soundcheck, there were two gentlemen standing outside the club. One asked: is there any chance of getting an autograph? The reply: None whatsoever! But, in a small attempt to make a human connection, I collected two bottles of water from the dressing room & took them out. "You don’t need an autograph, but water might be useful!" The reply in return: Can I shake your hand? The question might be why? but this presumes the operation of rationality & reason are available.
Try the next day…
March 15, 2003
22.53 And a spare pick on the Lunar Module was missing. This is one of my dwindling lifetime’s supply. When they are used up, there are none left & no more to replace them. I have enough to end my playing days, providing I am economical. John tells me that it disappeared in Quebec. He attributes this to a student venue & student assistance, and one of those assistant students deciding he would collect a Fripp pick. This has happened before.
After all, what does it matter? Just one small detail, like one little pick, one photo, one autograph, or one prick in a baloon. It may be difficult for us to believe that the small gestures we make might have a beneficial effect in a strange and threatening world. But it is very easy for small actions to do damage, and in ways that we decline to acknowledge. After all, it’s just one little prick in the balloon.
On one of these evenings (I forget which) several men followed the gig van back to our hotel and, as we got out in front of the hotel, presented me with albums for signing; which I declined. Pat had to talk to them & calm them down: they were about to follow me into the hotel & punch me out.
None of this is about music: this is about the touring life. A human exchange declined; a small but necessary part of my playing stolen; a near punch-up for not participating in the radical fetishising of inherent & delineated meanings; all this at one of KC’s favourite venues & with one common feature – the humanity of the player is denied.
When sufficient time has elapsed, we look back & remember the good; but it takes very little rubbing of my scars for the bleeding to begin. I regret the negativity in this report, but this the life.
Any more comments to the Guestbook about how & why a return to touring is a great idea?
Valencia:: Posted by PhilipR on March 15, 2007
Valencia is a lovely city with the world’s best paella and fantastic wine. So I am with you in regretting that Mr Fripp will not be enjoying this. I fear that a guitarist’s tour schedule precludes him from a true enjoyment of such local wonders, but I may be wrong - and I hope to some extent that am.
Well, one more then…
Philip is right: he’s wrong. It is not possible to describe the life to civilians. More accurately, it can be described but, mostly, not believed.
Now, enough?
"Avoid celebrity."
