Maria Schneider: Protecting the Power of Music

Via JazzTimes:
At the 2017 Jazz Connect Conference, held in New York in January and organized by JazzTimes and the Jazz Forward Coalition, the acclaimed composer and bandleader Maria Schneider delivered a keynote address that brought passionate, even fiery clarity to an increasingly complex issue: artists’ declining rights in the age of big data.

Why am I speaking about the power of music? Because at this moment in history, our livelihoods and the entire culture of music—jazz and more—stand in jeopardy. And so does the power for good that music brings the world. So, who exactly has put all of this in jeopardy? I see three culprits:

Read Maria Schneider’s speech in its entirety at JazzTimes:

https://jazztimes.com/news/maria-schneider-protecting-power-music/

(In Pursuit Of) Presence & Flow, Pt. 1

Dialogue is something I had previously perceived as “discussion”, oftentimes neither constructive nor generative, but just talk. Theoretical physicist David Bohm’s description (below) altered my perception regarding dialogue’s potential, the dynamics of which I subsequently began to register more attentively through personal reflective/meditative practice, in professional encounters, and even during brief, random interactions with strangers – which on occasion can be surprisingly meaningful.

Here’s what Bohm had to say: Continue reading “(In Pursuit Of) Presence & Flow, Pt. 1”