The worldwide jazz community was absolutely decimated during the pandemic. We lost so many- From old legends such as Jimmy Cobb, Jimmy Heath, Ira Sullivan, Joe Segal and McCoy Tyner to much younger and unexpected names like Chick Corea, Wallace Roney, Ralph Peterson and Mark Colby- everyone is leaving us. As is tradition for "us" jazz musicians, we must spend our short interactions with masters carefully, learning the intricacies and stories that are required to keep this precious music alive and fresh, with every new generation learning from and improving upon their predecessors.
These musicians did not achieve their respective levels of mastery with hard, sweaty, tough work, practice, and most importantly: playing with and learning from those around you. So that's exactly what I did (although is was by no means "masterful").
While my project may not have been staged in library mall, I feel as though I was still able to achieve a high level of interaction with my so-called audience. This project was eerily similar to some of the videos I saw coming out of my COVID location in Florence- Bringing music to the the streets, very distantly of course.
I had a great time putting my drums on the balcony, hearing my friends voices on the kit, learning and listening to the heroes we have lost this past year.
Really enjoyed seeing your installation in person as well as hearing you talk about it. I did not know it was in some ways in memory of those who had died but it's even more beautiful knowing that now. I love the endurance aspect of it and I agree I think it achieved a perfect amount of audience interaction.
I can listen to/read about your passion jazz all day long. I LOVED your installation project and I think it was as public as it needed to be. When you mentioned how it was similar to people making music as a community from their balconies in Florence, I realized how right you are. What a great connection. Maybe next time you will do it at a larger scale with a full jazz band on a variety of balconies.