More jazz at Philharmony

A couple of years ago I wrote a story about a jazz program I didn't like at Philharmony. Today's show was better than that, but not exactly what I had in mind.

The show started with the usual introduction. Here they don't start right out with the music, but with a little lecture about what you are going to hear. This introduction usually takes the place of the program notes we often read in the U.S. before the musicians come out and it generally lasts a couple of minutes or so. Tonight's lecture lasted nine minutes and included much detail about how great the musicians are.

One fascinating tidbit from the lecture is the fact that the band leader worked in New York for a while. When he came back he said, "If we try to beat these guys at their own music, we'll never do it. But if we play our own music, maybe we'll teach them something." For instance, he is teaching us that not everything done with a musical instrument can readily be identified as music, and not everything identified as music requires a musical instrument. For example, a plastic bag can be heard by all when wrinkled directly in front of a microphone.

The second half of the show may have redeemed the first half, and I guess we got our money's worth overall, but I had severe doubts when the percussionist switched from scratching his cymbals with the blunt end of a drumstick to wrinkling the plastic bag and nobody had yet played anything remotely melodic.

The evening's redemption came in part because I was able to write this entire story on my phone during the show, and even post it. The last couple of numbers were pretty good too. Alla says I would have enjoyed them more if I were not busy playing with my telephone.