Shameless Promotion

So, even though it's over a month out, I'm thinking we should stop at nothing to promote the upcoming performance.

I think Migrations merits a mighty crowd.

In a former life, as SLC director, I had extensive press release connections, an entire PR machine. Shouldn't we fire it up? So far, I write for a newspaper in Valley Center, and I put in a plug for the show in my November article. I'm priming my students to attend. If the ensemble thinks it's a good idea, I could fire up the ol' PR machine (radio, television, newspaper press releases, etc) for the good of the cause. What does everyone else think could/should be done for promotions?

da solo

In her reply to the Down Beat, chansi wrote:

"How about our solos? What is everyone doing? I'm considering doing a poem to the drums. I'm going to try to use it as an opportunity to express the internal to the audience. I'm hesitant because I don't want to A.) piss anyone off B.) have to edit my thoughts to please, C.) Be misunderstood."

Mechanics who hesitate are lost! Don't hold back, because A.) who cares if you piss anyone off, and they might need pissing off B.)you don't have to "please" anybody but yourself as creator, because C.) those who dig, will.

If we as musicians truly want to express the internal to the audience, we can't be limited by their external demands and expectations. Art (in the biggest sense) can certainly please, and be entertaining, and have wide appeal, and register with the masses. But if these are one's artistic goals, then one's art runs the risk of being safe. Music as art can't ever play it safe. Therefore, the musicians can't play it safe. Sometimes the audience needs to be challenged because they have grown dull and complacent, and sometimes the audience wants to be challenged, because they are tired with the safe and seek the real.

Make your expression, Mechanics, and don't hold back. Take a risk, do your thing, make it real and real fun, and all else be damned. Let the drummer drum!

Migrations: Human in the Maze

In searching for a graphic to adorn the advertizing and programs for the Migrations debut, I quite by accident came across this symbol. It is generally called the "Man in the Maze," and is common to many of the indigenous peoples of the American Southwest, including the Hopi, Pima, Zuni and Navajo. The human figure can bespeak the First Ancestor, but it can also speak to each of us. Life is about twists and turns, about making your way through the sometimes difficult, often obscure world we live in. But just around the next corner, there's an amazing discovery or insight to be had. Of course, the whole thing's a great adventure. And we do seem to go back whence we came, even when we don't mean to.

And indeed this symbol takes me back to a beginning in my own personal migration. My aunt is a Dominican nun, and years ago was sent by the Church to Arizona, of all places. Her best friend in the convent taught school on the Pima reservation, and one of the children there made pendants of this design for her. I remember Sister Caroline, on a visit home, presenting the gift and explaining the symbolism and culture to me as a young boy. It was my first encounter with Native America. When I came across it searching the web for images of migration, I knew I had come around a corner in the maze.

Down Beat: a statement of purpose

Welcome all Mechanics, friends, and casual browsers to the on-line open journal of the Temporal Mechanics Union. TMU is a percussion ensemble that combines the rhythmic traditions of many cultures with bold experimentation in new music. The ensemble is community-based, welcoming all comers regardless of experience. TMU is resident at Cowley College.

This journal is a place for TMU members to express themselves, work out new ideas, comment upon the musical experience, and share insights. All Mechanics can post to this blog, as can our friends and collaborators. We welcome any comments from the public.

Many of the entries will focus on MIGRATIONS, our current project, in collaboration with composer Todd Harper and soloist Garrett Ward. This venue will give eveyone involved a way to carry on the work between rehearsals, relate their experiences, and expand the concept of the piece. It will also give the public an on-going inside view into the process and experience of bringing music to life, and life to music.