Hello, Dear Readers, It’s been quite a while, and I apologize for that. My life is already a whirlwind of multiple musical projects, touring, recording, rehearsing, podcasting, planes, buses, vans etc… that I’m often told “I’m getting exhausted just thinking about your schedule!”
On top of that, as some know, this year began with my father’s hospitalization and subsequent passing at the age of 92. In addition to grief, the first few months of this year weren defined by the aftermath, the majority of which - funeral homes, estate planners, attorneys etc - fell into my hands. This continues but is getting somewhat under control at least.
In the meantime, there’s been a lot of catching up to do with the activities mentioned above. Writing - a time consuming process any way you slice it - took a back seat. I’m already working on other material that’ll be posted here soon and today seems like a good time to jump back in.
Barring any other unforeseen events, it feels safe to say it: “I’m back.”
Thanks for understanding AS PS Please enjoy this post (paywall removed)
A year ago today, I saw this excellent arrangement shared by a guitarist who is criminally underexposed (I won’t say “underrated” because those of us who know, know), NJ’s Dave Stryker. This year, I got inspired to try my hand at it - pun not intended and pardon the self-indulgent overplaying, not in the original (couldn’t help myself - hey it’s a holiday, that’s what we do…indulge). This treatment of “America the Beautiful” - a “reharmonization” in musician-speak - is full of dissonance, which feels especially appropriate this year.
The 4th of July always brings out many thoughts. The theory of America vs the practice; real patriotism vs performative patriotism (including by those don’t quite get the ideals of this country) and the behavior of certain subsections of fellow citizens that just boggles the mind. The time we’re in lately which brings to mind such turbulent periods as the late 1960s and even the early 1860s. There is no shortage of think-pieces here on Substack by folks with plenty more to say about recent events (feel free to check the list of pages I subscribe to), so I’ll leave it to the “real” pundits. But here are a few thoughts I had around this 4th.
“Freedom’s just another word for ‘nothing left to lose.’” as Janice Joplin used to say. Real freedom = expression. I love jazz guitar improvisation because it is all about free expression (of course the same applies to piano and other instruments). Yet too often, freedom is tossed around as a catchphrase by those who want to take away your freedom!
On my platforms, you are free to express yourself, even if it’s contrarian. For example, if you wish to say my playing here isn’t any good - that’s totally fine! You can just even say “You WERE my favorite guitarist…..until you opened up your mouth about POLITICS!!” Someone actually posted this in the past week - under a completely unrelated thread. Of course, that’s his problem, not mine. By all means I won’t take anything personally. However, I do have the freedom to remove your comment if I deem it inappropriate, offensive or crossing a line somehow. And the beautiful thing about that is - neither one of us will get in trouble with authorities!
Here’s a hypothetical: Imagine this was some fictitious nation and I was the friend or relative of the president or Prime Minister. Then suppose you felt to post “You suck Skolnick!” under this video. If we were an authoritarian state, your life could be made very difficult. At worst, imprisonment (or death). More likely, harassment by State authorities. That’s the definition of “Authoritarianism”. Trust me, we don’t want that here.
One of the most un-American things in my opinion is a pressure campaign on what you can and can’t say. Now if you’re somebody who often disagrees with me politically: relax - no need to get all riled up.. I’m not talking about YOU! Believe it or not, I’m referring to folks I normally agree with on most issues. Recently there’s been an attempt to silence and it’s disconcerting. Here’s one of the biggest examples:
While trust in large scale media voices has been mostly eroded - in some cases fairly, in others very unfairly - one of the few remaining trusted voices, even if you don’t agree with him ( I don’t 100% of the time) is Jon Stewart, who finally returned to TV at a time his voice his most needed. Upon his debut as weekly host on Monday, he was swiftly shamed and taken to task in comment after comment and editorial after editorial.
It was as an all out pressure campaign to retract his words and refrain from saying something that - as of one week ago tonight - is being said by so many you can’t escape it (I’m not going to get into the issue itself, it’s obvious what I’m referring to). This week, I have found myself facing incoming fire from folks generally on the same team - it rivals the combativeness of the other team. My point is this: Any pressure campaign about what you can and cannot say, whether it’s colored red or blue is not what this country is all about.
By the way, I recently found out about a grass roots organization that is toning down the toxicity among American citizens through open conversation & respectful debate between left & right, with the aim bridging the divide that has plagued the US in recent years. Here is their website: BRAVER ANGELS
I can absolutely get behind this.
Individual expression, whether it is notes on a guitar or opinions (even those you might virulently disagree with) is to be protected. That’s Freedom, not my way (or your way) or the highway. I’m hoping we can get back to a place - with those we used to generally agree with and those we didn’t - where we can all remember that. Happy birthday America. And everyone have a Happy and Safe 4th.
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4th of July Thoughts