Hello Sports Fans! It’s that time of the year again – spring – which means that great American pastime, NBA playoff basketball, is here again. This has definitely been the most competitive season in a long time, with a lot of surprise stories coming out of what is considered the world’s best basketball league. Unfortunately, our Portland Trailblazers will not be making an appearance. (Get well soon, Greg Oden! Quit playin’ pick-up games at 24 hour fitness in Tualatin and eating 12-packs of Safeway hot dogs for damn breakfast. Let’s do this man. Step away from the Voodoo Doughnuts.)

So let’s talk playoff predictions. But before I do that, I feel the need to stream some consciousness on the subjects of certain players, the NBA in general, ladies with breast implants in the Greater Los Angeles area, and other sundry topics which shall arise, at my sole discretion, and your light-hearted indulgence (read on for more):

Kevin Garnett

This guy is having an outstanding season. I love the way he has embraced the city of Boston and the Celtics style of playing the game. He has an edge and a fire that is a joy to watch. Very vibrant, the Celts will be a force to be reckoned with, and probably win it all.

Paul Pierce

I can’t wait to see this guy in the playoffs. I think he is going to light up everyone in the East. I just feel like this is his year and he has a great team to help him, which he has been waiting for. Look for Paul Pierce to come out BIG TIME and have a few 30-point games.

LeBron James

I think this guy is overrated, as DeShawn Stevenson said. He’s a very, very good basketball player but he is simply not graceful or subtle, which are two qualities that show in great playoff-caliber players at the right time (Magic, Michael Jordan, Bird, Dennis Johnson, Kevin McHale). What I mean is, Le - ‘brawn’ relies too much on his raw athleticism to be a complete athlete. Sure he is fine in the NBA regular season when this type of thing is encouraged, and everyone is holding up your ego with their chins. For me, he is not very exciting to watch and I think his team is also quite mediocre, except for his Brazilian teammate who really shows heart (which is why people love him, they wish there were American players who played like this, but there are not (except for KG, see above).

While I’m on the subject, have you noticed that SportsCenter will show a highlight in which the Cavaliers lose by 10 points and it will be full of nothing but Lebron dunking? WTF? Boring. Why are you rewarding this freakin’ ape-man mentality for a losing effort? Because Lebron is worth money, but I think more in the short-term. When I see this, I am not inspired in the ‘Airness’ or ‘Magic’ sense. I think the magazine cover for Vogue he did was definitely High Art and said it all.

This is generally why the U.S. pretty much lays an egg at international competitions. American players generally lack finesse, with the exception of Robert Horry / Bruce Bowen / Chris Paul / Deron Williams / Boozer / James Posey type players who just get the job done and don’t care about being in highlights, and use the least amount of action to accomplish the greatest result. (Hello Spurs and Jazz!) These are the people on the team who are indispensable, because they don’t care about glory, they are just trying to help people in their circle to get over the top.

Reminds me of Carolina Basketball. Not this season though. Doh.

Anyway, moving on…

Ginobili!

I think this guy is the best player in the NBA along with K.G. The American press is too jingoistic to admit that the best player at any time can be from any place in the world, and that American athletes are not better because of some freakin’ Teddy Roosevelt / Captain America / Starship Troopers gene. Thank God the refs call the game (mostly) fairly so that we can see the international players play the right way. Tony Parker, Tim Duncan (Virgin Islands, not the states), and Ginobili are the best at takin’ it to our American players, and they make me proud to be a Citizen of the World, where great things can happen if you believe. (Except in Tibet, where great things used to happen, but by all accounts great things are on hold at the moment).

(I wish Ginobili would come play for the Trailblazers when he gets older and play with Brandon Roy and Greg Oden. That’d be sick. Brandon Roy, in my mind, can be the best player in the NBA if he chooses – he has that finesse and high basketball I.Q. that will take him far. I just think he needs to decide he wants it and it is his. He has to realize that he cannot play the big / athletic game, but he can inspire others and have the greatest success.)

Anyway, I hope Ginobili has another excellent playoff season and demonstrates his ’skillz’ for the world, so we can see a person who cares about helping his team win go far, in a league which is mostly about overrating its stars. Go Manu!

Kobe

Kobe would probably be a badass at anything he did. I think he could pick up a guitar and in about two days he’d be playing ‘Stairway to Heaven’ or ‘Little Wing’ like a motherfucker. He is so talented, mentally tough, and driven to succeed, it’d be easy for him. However, he is no Michael Jordan. Remember Jordan shot 52% from the field his rookie year and 49.7% for his career. His freakin’ career. ! Hello, half of his shots went in the basket. And he was a shooting guard. Unbelievable. That guy had mental discipline like nobody’s business. It must have been due to the Zen meditation that he and Phil Jackson would do at practice.

There will never, (pause) ever, (pause) ever, (pause again) be another MJ. And thank God, I think the league got screwed up when he dominated so much. Motherfucker turned me off of basketball for like 7 years.

Oh well this is 08, it’s great, and team play has returned. The 90s are dead! Long live the 90s! (Go Blazers!)

I think Kobe will go crazy in the playoffs, and he will get help from the refs, who will give him all kinds of calls. But that is a shame because he should have to prove that he is of the caliber of MJ to be getting all of those whistles, and that he can shoot a high percentage from the field. A team like Utah or Boston will put some serious defense on him. The thing is, the Lakers are so good now as a team that it will help his ‘MJ’ status, and all the fake-boobed movie stars in L.A. will swoon for him, along with Jack Nicholson and Diane Cannon. It will be ‘The Legend of Kobe’ told over and over, again and again around the campfires of the great Western states. The boy who, named after a Japanese steak house in Philadelphia by his parents, moved to California and went on to become an international superstar…. But he ain’t no MJ!

Gettin’ All Nostradamus on Ya

Without further ado, let’s get to the playoff predictions:

Eastern Conference
Washington OVER Cleveland

I believe Gilbert, Caron, and company are going to beat the Cavs in 6. They are a better TEAM overall and should take this one… and then:

Boston OVER Washington

Of course.

Orlando OVER Detroit

I think Turkoglu and Dwight Howard are going to put a whoopin on the motor city boys. Game 7 will end with a heroic shot by Hedo to win the game and the glory, setting up:

Boston OVER Orlando

Boston will win in 6 games to go on to the finals. The city of Boston goes absolutely bananas! Punters in bars spill out into the streets after hours, carousin’ and carrying on, like well, most Saturday nights. Except it’s a Tuesday for Christ’s sake. Quit yer yappin ya drunken bastard. Fer the love of…put that away before you hurt yourself. Think you’re funny do ya? (end bad Irish accent).

People will get married who really shouldn’t, on a whim, or even (dare I say it – a dare!) Babies will be conceived, who will eventually grow up, and move west, enlarging (to our collective sigh) the numbers of the Red Sox / Celtics / Patriots ‘diaspora.’ New Englanders rejoice! It will be mayhem and madness. Oh it’ll be great craic. (Note I have never actually been to Boston. I just have this image in my head from the collective consciousness and too many episodes of Cheers as a kid).

Western Conference

Lakers OVER Denver

The Kob-ster will not be denied. 6 games max.

Utah OVER Houston

Too much Deron Williams, too many Korver threes. Salt Lake city will go bananas… babies will be conceived… Mormons will – (OK I’ll stop now)

Phoenix OVER San Antone

This is a tough one to pick, but I think the Suns will have their number this time. Ginobili will probably carry the Spurs, but Shaq will neutralize Duncan, and Grant Hill, Leandro Barbosa, and Raja Bell will make open shots. Amare Stoudemire will get like 35 a night. Phoenix in 6.

Dallas OVER New Orleans

Dallas is just too good for them now that they have Jason Kidd. Mavericks in 5.

Ding Ding! Round 2…

Lakers OVER Utah

I think this will go 7 games, with L.A. pulling out game 6. Basically Deron Williams cannot be stopped, so Kobe will have to get crazy every night and score like 40 for games 5,6, and 7 for the Lakers to win, but they will do it. More celebrating in L.A. Jack Nicholson is feelin’ frisky, and he might get some, so watch out ladies of Malibu!

Phoenix OVER Dallas

This will be a classic series and perhaps the best of the playoffs so far. Steve Nash and Jason Kidd will go at it, and I think it will basically be a draw. The difference will be that Dallas will not be able to come inside of the paint, because of Shaq, and they will have no defense for Stoudemire. Dirk will be Dirk but he can’t do it by himself. Jason Terry will probably lay an egg, which will allow Barbosa to get busy and score 30 one night. Setting up…

Phoenix OVER Los Angeles

Bet you didn’t see that coming, did you? That’s right, Phoenix will beat L.A. because Shaq will not be denied, and Stoudemire will dominate inside, as Shaq will neutralize Gasol, and Bynum (if he comes back) will prove to be overrated. This thing will go 7 games, but in game 7 Nash will play out of his freakin dome and dominate the Lakers guards. Sasha Vujacic will come back next year better than ever and Derek Fisher will go home to his family and his 3 rings to watch the finals, which will feature:

Celtics OVER Phoenix

Too much Ray Allen in the final, too much Garnett, too much James Posey playing defense on everybody. Celtics win in 6. This will be the best party Boston has seen since the 80s and they will hang their latest championship banner.

And I’m not even a Celtics fan. I have to pick them, they are the best team and they won’t be denied.

Final Thoughts

And so it goes… this is either my fantasy wet dream of the NBA playoffs which will never happen, or reality! Who knows? But it’s fun to imagine.

Next Year? Go Blazers! G. Oden in the micky ficky hizzy, blee-yatch!

Click here to watch the preview on iTunes

Holy be-jesus. I just finished watching Day Watch, the Russian fantasy film based on the novel by Sergei Lukyanenko. It completely blew me away. It was beautiful. It was sad. It was glorious. It was Gothic. There were vampires, and there was blood, and slow motion biting. Yet it is not a ‘vampire movie’– it is a whirling, dervishing, opera of lust, love, power, conflict, and super-powers, set in an other-worldly modern-day Moscow, avec des vampires. I am amazed. I am happy. I will watch again, maybe tomorrow.

This is what fantasy cinema is all about, a complete play of narrative, life, death, beauty and gore. I feel satisfied on so many levels – aesthetically, emotionally, and visually – after seeing this, the second of a trilogy of films based on 3 books by Lukyanenko. Apparently, this was the biggest grossing film ever in Russia last year (2007). From what I hear, the 3rd movie has been released, but not yet in North America. That is awesome news. However, instead of camping out 6 hours before the show with my family (as I did when when I was 9 years old to watch “Jedi”), I will just wait for it to come out on iTunes, or appear at the video store. Good times.

Briefly, the story centers around the main character of Anton Gorodetsky, who in the first movie (Night Watch,2004) makes a pact with a dark witch, setting into motion a chain of events which could bring about the end of the world, or in this case a war between the forces of light and dark, personified by beings known as ‘Dark Others’ and ‘Light Others’. These Light and Dark Others represent all of the alt-human, fantasy characters we have come to know and love, such as vampires, sorcerers, shape-shifters, demons, angels, etc. The story takes place in the past, as well as the present, as we see how a precarious ‘truce’ between the two sides has been in place for some time after a great war, which seems to date to Medieval times. Since then, the world has remained in relative balance and civilization as we know it has flourished.

However, in the present day there exist two people – a great Light Other (the super-cute “Svetlana”) and a great Dark Other (”Yegor”), who should never meet lest we should have an apocalypse on our hands. Of course, Anton Gorodetsky stands in the middle of both these two characters, and we witness his personal evolution as an “Other”, as well as their respective stories play out through suspense, intrigue, and confrontation.

Anyway, I won’t give away any of the action or plot movement. Let’s just say it is a ‘kick-ass’ fantasy action movie with a well-rounded story and really interesting stories and sub-plots. Visually it is reminiscent of the very first Matrix film in that the action is blended in with the story, but not action for its own sake, and we see real growth in the characters. Day Watch really expands on the first film, but in an organic (for lack of a less-used phrase), natural way, full of surprises, twists, and ‘moral ambiguity’, as some have called it. Good stuff.

I really want to read the books now and I think I just figured out what novels I am going to stick my nose into for the next few weeks.

Click here to watch the preview on iTunes

Note: This review will pertain to the edition published by the Swedenborg Society, London, 1875, printed in modern times by Kessinger Publishing.

Emanuel Swedenborg was quite the respected scientist and philosopher in his day, the Age of Reason. He is reported to have experienced a spiritual awakening at the age of fifty-six, when he began writing works of a more revolutionary nature, when seen in the context of existing Christian doctrine. According to Swedenborg, he was able to freely visit Heaven and Hell, coming and going at will, while conversing with spirits, angels, and demons there. Through his travels and experiences he began to form his own ideas relating to the Trinity, and the nature of Divinity itself (which were not necessarily in keeping with the ideas of the day). Of course, like many inspired and awakened, free-thinking and empowered individuals, he was tried for heresy by members of the Church. Haters.

I found this book to be well worth the read, even though Swedenborg’s style of discourse could be really tedious and repetitive at times. In his dialogues with planetary spirits, for example, he would often go on and on about Christ and his manifesting in divine form on the Earth planet, as well as his own beliefs. Unfortunately he repeats his position to almost every spirit he meets, which for the reader is tiresome. Other than his repetitiveness, however, he really does make some interesting points which merit consideration, such as:

That there are many earths, and men upon them, and spirits and angels thence, is well known in the other life, for it is there granted to every one who desires it from a love of truth, and thence of use, to speak with the spirits of other earths, and thereby to be confirmed concerning a plurality of worlds, and to be informed that the human race is not from one earth only, but from innumerable earths; and moreover to be informed what is their genius, manner of life, and their Divine worship.

So according to Swedenborg, basically it is our right to know what is happening on other earths (we call them other planets).

Hence it was evident to me what was the nature and quality of the life of the inhabitants of the earth Jupiter; for the disposition of the inhabitants of any earth may be known by the spirits who come thence, inasmuch as every one retains his own life after death, and continues to live it when he becomes a spirit. It was observed that they had a state of blessedness or happiness still more interior, which was manifest from this circumstance, that their interiors were perceived not to be closed, but open to heaven; for in proportion as the interiors are more open to heaven, in the same proportion they are the more susceptible of receiving Divine good, and with it blessedness and interior happiness. The case is altogether otherwise with those who do not live in the order of heaven: the interiors with such are closed, and the exteriors open to the world.

He seems to have really enjoyed his discourse with the spirits of Jupiter; for him they are the most “interior”-focused (non-materialistic) of the spirits he encounters.

He also learns from those spirits that while they are living (embodied), their form, in particular their faces, are a true mirror of their internal state:

…they never use deceit, that is, never speak otherwise than they think, the consequence of which is, that they use no restraint in regard to the face, but let all the features and fibres have free play. The case is otherwise with those who from their childhood have been practised in deceit. The face is thereby contracted from within, to prevent the inward thoughts from being manifested; neither has it free play from without, but is kept in readiness either to put itself forth or to contract itself, according to the suggestions of craft and cunning.

As far as the spirits of Mercury, Jupiter, Saturn, and others, Swedenborg details how they converse with the living people of that planet, in a manner which would seem to be guidance (like a spirit guide) or some sort of rebuke. There is definitely an dichotomy of good and evil present in most of his accounts, and those passages are somewhat moralistic at times (and a bit of a turnoff, I think ) for some, including myself.

When reading this book, I kept wanting him to “get to the good part” and tell me about spirits in higher planes than the solar system. After he gets through the chapter “Why the Lord was Born on Our Earth” (yawn), he finally gets a little more cosmic in the section “Of the Earths in the Starry Heaven”. Finally, I thought, something interesting:

He who is unacquainted with the arcana of heaven cannot believe that a man is capable of seeing earths so remote, and of giving any account of them from sensible experience: but let such a one know that the spaces and distances, and consequent progressions, which exist in the natural world, are, in their origin and first cause, changes of the state of interior things; that with angels and spirits they appear according to such changes; and that therefore angels and spirits may by such changes be apparently translated from one place to another, and from one earth to another, even to earths at the extreme boundaries of the universe. The case is the same also with man as to his spirit, and therefore he also may be so translated, whilst his body still continues in its own place…The sensual man is not capable of conceiving that man as to his spirit can be thus translated, inasmuch as the sensual man is immersed in space and in time, and measures his progress accordingly.

Indeed. I found this section to be the most satisfying of my own thirsts, but soon he returns to a more Christian dialogue when speaking with the inhabitants of these far-flung worlds. With Swedenborg living in the 1700s it is unfair to expect much outside of the realms of contemporary theology, but he does have a way of shifting to a more universal speech at times which really kept me enthralled. In my mind that is enough reason to read this book, and I hope that this illumination will be present in the other works which I come across.

Emanuel Swedenborg’s writings were very influential to philosophers, poets, and writers who would come later, including Blake, Emerson, and Carl Jung – people who played a big part in shaping the modern sense of the Divine in our imaginations and spiritual thought. Perhaps it is the conviction and assuredness of the author, along with his insights into other realms, which made him so revolutionary to generations past. But such a revolution is of the inner being, and not political or material, and such is the nature of the knowledge gained from this book.

It is a good day to die. As good as any other. A fine day for an untimely demise. Oh and my death is most untimely. In fact, reports of my demise have been greatly understated – they are in fact, overwhelmingly and undeniably true!

I declare that the person who was formerly known as “Jay Harley”, born “Ricardo Jason Harley” is DECEASED, in fact, DEAD. I do not mourn his passing as such. It was an average life, full of memories, highlights, peaks and valleys, and other measurements, too many to speak of in such a small space. As comparisons go – you know, relative-schmivitives and so on – there was quite a lot of striving after what-nots, “goals”, “accomplishment” per se, and other nonsensical drivel-trivel, schmivel-divel, ad nauseum. Actually quite a load of ego-maniacal bollocks. But I salute myself, I even drink to myself, for tomorrow is another day (except for me). They were indeed, my ego-maniacal bollocks, and I should be proud (except I am dead, so pride has no consequence here). Dead guys don’t gloat, I will have you know.

Dead dead dead, never to return. Never coming back. I already paid my respects to that dead mother fucker in the corner – my rottting, still-born-looking corpse-of-a-shell-of-a-thing. Dead mother fucker. Stinking, filthy, dead, lifeless bee-yatch of my body, just sitting there looking dead. Well actually, being dead.

And here’s the thing – I’m taking the World I used to live in with me. Be thankful, it was a real shitter! A lot of good that world did anybody. What a boring, dull, drab, restrictive place. Don’t do this, do that, don’t do it that way. Eat this, don’t eat that. Rules rules, yes, no…Blah blah blah. It was like the great American suburb of the Universe. Bad city planning, indeed! No room for growth I should say. I can’t believe I lived there. Big frickin’ waste of space indeed. Happy to see it go, I tell you. Imagine “me” living out “my life” in such a hole. No thank you very much. Driving right past that exit.

Gone gone gone. Dead world, dead world, dead guy gone with it. Dead mother fuckin’ world, floating off amongst the debris of dead worlds out there in dead space, my dead-ass body just sitting there looking dead with it.

Yeah the world is gone. I mean, my world is gone. I don’t claim to have killed anyone else’s world. That would just be plain mean, and impossible to boot. But the one I used to live in is outta here.

And do you know: I actually feel relieved after all of this? I feel really light all of a sudden, kind of like I can walk through walls, you know what I mean? Like I can look at a mountain and just be like – whatever dude. No obstacles, no barriers, no nada. My new world is straight-up fuckin’ free man. Everybody can do whatever they want. I don’t give a shit, man. I don’t give a flying fuck off a rolling doughnut. Just fuckin have fun. Or not.

I’m not trying to promote my world as some shangri-la or anything like that. Hey it’s my world. I’m just saying that everyone can do whatever they want there. That’s all. That’s it. Nothing else.

Oh, and I’m dead. Hooray! Drinks anyone?

Present, you are giving.
I feel your affection, I adore your touch.
We are lovers. There is something of eternity in it, something of freedom itself.
Life, pleasure and blessings surround us.

I sit in this place with you, this World we have created. We have our garden.
Yes we are naked, running through fields of wonder, thoughts and illusion –
The fleeting things give us shadows.
Without them we float far away from the everyday. The Truth is so stark, so beautiful, so deadly.

I am eternal, you are ageless also. I will remind you if I must lover, we are not from here, we are not of this place.

Do not tarry.

The Truth of it calls me, I am awakened now.
Reaching out to you, across this nothing that separates us, I tell you I am leaving.
I will see you again – another color, another ray of your beauty will reflect
in that sky and earth of our next meeting.

And so it is Hello Goddess, and Goodbye.

There is so much valuable information in this book by Wallace D. Wattles, it’s just a classic work about the world of the Mind, meditation, the Law of Attraction, gratitude, Spirit, and more. I am so grateful to have been introduced to it by one of my friends. Enjoy!

Download the Science of Getting Rich e-Book

I read this book at the behest of a former girlfriend, who insisted that the author’s versions of the Universal Masculine and Feminine were not being properly honored in our relationship. I say the “author’s versions”, because, in my opinion, he greatly simplifies both of these archetypes, and I have trouble relating wholly to his dichotomy. According to Deida, about 90% of all people (straight, lesbian, gay, or otherwise) identify strongly with one of the poles (yin or yang, feminine or masculine), and indeed need this polarity to engage in a loving relationship. His point is that modern social structures have blurred the lines between the masculine and feminine to the degree that they have adversely affected our sex lives and our ability to relate to our needs and wants as a couple or individual: we are afraid to be man, or be woman, in the archetypal sense. Of late, these oft-mentioned deficiencies in modern relations are well-documented, and you can find a slew of titles geared towards today’s renaissance man and the quest for sexual and spiritual reclamation. All of these books really express the same general points: be a man, know what you want, don’t talk about yourself, and be confident. And – women aren’t rational, but that’s part of the fun. Also, it helps to be funny and give compliments. Wash, rinse, repeat.

Whenever I am introduced to a book, I can immediately tell if I can relate to it by its vibration; I simply pick up the book, look at the front and back covers, flip through the pages and wait. I’m sure you can understand the experience, as we’ve all been through this process while browsing aisles in a book store, or hovering over a friend’s bookshelf. You really know when a book resonates with you, when you want or need to read a particular book, because you are drawn to it. I have to say that this book did not really resonate with me at first. The topics seemed timely, and the writing straightforward enough. Perhaps therein lay the problem for me: the book and the language seemed somewhat simplistic and repetitive. Deida seems to reduce the whole dynamic between men and women down to a few simple principles, repeated over and over again for emphasis.

Here is a man who is undoubtedly “successful” at relationships – he’s obviously learned how to honor the ‘mystery’ and unpredictability of the Divine Feminine. He understands that he can never truly ‘understand her’, in the way that men understand each other – by their viewpoints, their words, and their character. He is a dominant man, and knows what he wants, and therefore women want him, and he never denies his own attraction to the unspoken ocean of potential that is the feminine nature. Deida speaks of the passionate man who is self-motivated and unafraid to achieve what he wants in life. As he states, he not only makes love to his woman, he fucks her with all of his being, and she loves him for it. He knows himself as she will never know herself, because she is endless and has no boundaries.

Overall this book is a pretty quick read – as a bedside book it might take you a few evenings or so to get through it. Although I did not feel an overwhelming sense of universal truth radiating from this book when reading it (high expectations I know), I do believe it has some interesting points, especially for the man or woman who identifies strongly with Deida’s archetypes. For me, I suppose I find the whole idea of ‘mastery’ or ’success’ with the opposite sex to be a bit over-hyped. If you identify as a romantic (like myself), you may find the work to be a somewhat overly pragmatic and simplistic approach to life as a Spiritual Man. But if you absolutely must read it (at the request of your significant other), then you should get through it without incident, picking up a few solid points along the way.

My good friend Eric and I were pretty excited to see what Mr. Fleck and the Flecktones, playing together with a full-sized orchestra, would come up with for our musical enjoyment. I am generally unfamiliar with Bela’s music after around the late 90’s or so — I haven’t stopped listening or hearing music from his various projects on public radio, it’s just that I don’t have a lot of it in my personal collection (various iTunes crashes through the years, etc — you know how it goes). Anyway, having recently moved to the Pacific Northwest, I suddenly have a new appreciation for all things “roots”, “Americana”, or “alt” – and whether you are using a prefix or a suffix before the terms “jazz”, “bluegrass”, or “fusion”, Bela certainly fits the bill. Obviously the opportunity to see this virtuoso banjoist and resident of Nashville, along with the Flecktones, plus the Oregon Symphony Orchestra, couldn’t be missed.

First the (slightly) bad news: As far as the orchestration went, there really wasn’t much of it. Curiously, a clear plastic barrier (about 3 or more feet in height) stood between the band and the members of the orchestra, including the conductor. Symbolically, we all knew we were seeing two different musical groups, separated perhaps by their agendas. The Oregon Symphony certainly wanted to showcase this artist to the community as well as welcome enthusiasts of popular music. Bela and the Flecktones wanted to reach that audience, playing their own music. The result, for the first part of the concert, seemed to be the band playing their tunes and the orchestra trying to find a place to fit in thirty or so extra voices behind a modern jazz/folk quartet. Not really a simple manner of placing orchestral ‘chords’ at gaps between solos (there weren’t many), so at times it felt a little rushed or out of place.

That being said, I really enjoyed the Flecktones’ performance. As you would expect, improvisation was the theme, with all four members sounding very loose and comfortable playing together. One could not only hear, but see, the musical chemistry between Bela and Victor Wooten, the virtuoso bassist (and fine composer in his own right), as they played a cross-section of fusion tunes from the band’s early years, some modern pieces (including a vocal performance by the drummer / percussionist Future Man), as well as some crowd-pleasing bluegrass numbers. The two seemed to really play off of each other’s melodic and rhythmic ideas, sharing in the joy of collective experimentation. It was delightful to see their particular styles at work, with Victor not only ‘holding down’ the low-end side of the music but also taking some flights of piano-style bass plucking himself (à la Stanley Jordan). A few of his more inspired efforts left the crowd wanting more, but they’ll have to wait for his solo show in town this spring. I’ll be there.

On this occasion, the concert-goers in attendance were as varied as the musical styles on display. There many fans of Mr. Wooten present, judging by the shouts of “Play it Victor!” as well as a good number of bluegrass enthusiasts who tended to perk up (and yee-haw) whenever Bela would begin a recognizable passage from Tales from the Acoustic Planet. They would have to wait until the encore, however – after a few minutes of applause, Bela came back onto the stage alone, banjo in hand, and gave us an extended fugue-like improv. If for some reason you hadn’t been listening to Bela amongst the sounds of all the other players on stage, now was your chance to hear why conductor Gregory Vajda described him as “simply one of the best musicians on the planet” in his earlier introduction.

Showing the full range of his musical influences and blending the baroque and bluegrass with expert phrasing and finger-style, he seemed to be making it all up as he went along, and we loved it. He was fearless, daring to play just what he wanted to play, discovering new notes and rhythms and adding them to his own special concoction of melodic flavoring. It seemed to suddenly dawn on everyone at that moment, that this, is what we had come to hear.

And we cheered.

Links:

Bela Fleck
The Flecktones
The Oregon Symphony

Where: Crystal Ballroom, Portland Oregon

The Theme (upon reflection by this reviewer) : “Space and exploration, with overtones of understatement”

(Instead of writing a prosaic, structured review of the evening I have decided to give you my notes, as a tribute to Joshua’s fluent, poetic, post-bop compositional and saxophone styles. Enjoy — Jay)

Brian Blade on drums, delivering the undertones, giving us the emptiness that we so crave, that is often missing in contemporary groups… Flexibility, willing to play off of everyone else, supporting a theme, giving voice to chaos… a brilliant performance. Total of 2 solos? Something of a classicist.

The Surrey with the Fringe on Top — introduction to the show, fitting, pointedly(?) abstract. Where is the theme, where is the music, where are we? Unapologetic and decidedly avant-garde, refreshing beginning.

Zarafah (egyptian sounding, modal?) — elaboration of exotica, themes evolving, northern africa? Joshua’s own flirtations with the truly exotic, perhaps a longing for more than the New York jazz avant-garde, but a reluctance to live in ‘world’ Bohemia.

Angel Eyes - short but sweet, long, lingering melody lines that we craved, delivered without consequence of extended improvisation. A crowd pleaser, to be sure.

The Encore - Just Like You, bowed bass and dramatic counterpoint, the most classical part of the evening, and yet the most emotional and expressive. Symbols and dissonance (the edge of the emotion, stepping “out”)

Rueben Rogers - something of a crowd favorite by his sheer energy and dedication… playing so many notes, but working it all out, somehow ending up in the right place, a testament to the experiential. Melodic Accompaniment, playing a show of his own, Joshua giving him space to do so.

Soul Dance — testament to his early compositional skills and exploring nature, solid theme, full of unexpected twists and turns. Just when you believe you know Joshua, he changes the key, rhythm, or structure somehow, and you are left wondering “what next?” The answer is not always satisfying, for the moment, but often a question — what is next?

Links:

Joshua Redman
Portland Jazz Festival