The Musicians and "The Swim"

I have had the pleasure over the last 30 years of playing bass with several outstanding guitarists. In that that time I have also played with some people that merely own a guitar, some that can only play a guitar and some that should not be allowed to touch a guitar. Those last folks are subject matter for another time.

The top 10% are what I recognise as musicians, not just players. They are the gifted, diligent music craftsmen that listen to all the aspects of the band and the tune being played, understand and process them and drive the rest of the players to a higher level almost every time they play.

These guys (girls included but simplified for this piece) are what tend separate a good band from a great one. There are many bands out there that can sound just like someone else and be a good backround music jukebox in a bar on a Saturday night. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. It's the band with the musician leading it, or if you're lucky several musicians in it, that will make people stop talking and listen. More like a show / concert than a basic dancehall atmosphere tends to permeate the room and soon some of the focus of who's picking up on who shifts to "who's that on the guitar? These guys are good!".

The musicians I'm talking about seem to have had ear for this stuff early on. They either studied or practiced a lot as youths and it wasn't the same study / practice torment that the rest of us went through with Math or History. It was a somewhat insatiable quest for "the riff of destiny" or a piece of Robert Johnson's soul.

It was and in most cases still is something that does not have an end to it. That can be view by some as torture, like swimming in the ocean endlessly, spotting land only to have it stay on the horizon forever. Or for others it can be as if they at one point reach the island only to find it crawling with unfaithful lovers and sleazy show promoters.

Some will eventually start swimming away from this. Some will swim half-heartedly the rest of their lives playing much the same way and unknowingly transferring that learned cynicism to the audience and their peers and stop swimming later unfulfilled in their quest.

Some will swim with renewed purpose and find an unending arpeggio of islands full of new opportunities and new twists on the thing they love most - the total package of all things music. These folks will periodically look back and reflect on the good (and the bad) of the swim and feel satisfaction, accomplishment and humbleness that few others can appreciate.

Now I started this with guitarists in mind, partially because I get to observe and interact with them a lot in the swim, but it certainly applies to all the other players and musicians out there as well. I have been swimming too, and I can tell you that quite a bit of it has been a great adventure.

To all the great musicians I've been privileged to meet and play with over the years so far, thanks for letting me swim with you and learn a thing or two. Some of you know that you're great some are still looking for land to validate your journey. I hope you all find it and can reflect on it positively before the swim ends.