“Air Piano” by Billy Collins

Now that all the twilight has seeped 
out of the room 
and I am alone listening, 

the bass is beginning to sound 
like my father 
ascending the flights of stairs, 

always the same cadence 
every weekday evening, 
a beat you could build a city on. 

And the alto is the woman 
I sat next to on a train 
who wore a tiny silver watch around her wrist. 

The drums are drops of water 
on my forehead, 
one for every inhabitant of China. 

And the tenor, perhaps, 
is someone’s younger brother
who moved out west and never writes

or a swan passing under a willow. 
But the piano—
the piano is the piano 

you gave me one Christmas, 
a big black curve
standing at the end of the room, 

a red bow tied around its leg 
while snow fell on the house 
and the long rows of hemlocks. 

Since then, I have learned some chords 
and a few standards, 
but I still love lying on the floor 

like this, eyes closed, 
hands locked behind my head, 
laying down the solo on “Out of the Blue” 

in the Fantasy Studios, 
Berkeley, California, 
on October 4th, 1951, when I was ten.

“Blackbird” by Brad Mehldau

“Blackbird” is one of my favourite Beatles songs, and Brad Mehldau is one of my favourite jazz pianists, so it’s probably unsurprising that I count Mehldau’s version of “Blackbird” as one of the best. It’s simply brilliant. The patient upright bass pedal point that waits 90 seconds before launching off, the inventive but tasteful improvization, and one of the best fade outs of all time. It has it all.

If we can sing hymns written down in advance, without thinking that makes them fake or insincere, why not say prayers written down in advance?

It is not enough just to sing the words without meaning them. Yet there are still many advantages to having hymns composed before a service instead of being made up on the spot–advantages like greater participation, assurance of doctrinal soundness, and compelling and memorable words. More than that, singing familiar hymns again and again actually enhances rather than diminishes their capacity to express the inarticulate longings of our hearts. If we can sing hymns written down in advance, without thinking that makes them fake or insincere, why not say prayers written down in advance? 

The idea that liturgical prayers are in conflict with prayer from the heart, with really meaning what we say, is relatively new in Christian history. Jesus, the apostles, churches before and after the Reformation–all used fixed forms of liturgical prayer. For most of the last two thousand years, Christians have used liturgical prayers and spontaneous prayers, with liturgical prayers predominating in public worship and adding richness and depth to the spontaneous prayers used in private worship.

— Samuel L. Bray and Drew Nathaniel Keane, How to Use the Book of Common Prayer

“Surprise” by Billy Collins

This–
according to the voice on the radio,
the host of a classical music program no less–
this is the birthday of Vivaldi.

He would be 325 years old today,
quite bent over, I would imagine,
and not able to see much through his watery eyes.

Surely, he would be deaf by now,
the clothes flaking off him,
hair pitiably sparse.

But we would throw a party for him anyway,
a surprise party where everyone
would hide behind the furniture to listen

for the tap of his cane on the pavement
and the sound of his dry, persistent cough.

“Mozart, for Example” by Mary Oliver

All the quick notes
Mozart didn’t have time to use
before he entered the cloud-boat

are falling now from the beaks
of the finches
that have gathered from the joyous summer

into the hard winter
and, like Mozart, they speak of nothing
but light and delight,

though it is true, the heavy blades of the world
are still pounding underneath.
And this is what you can do too, maybe,

if you live simply and with a lyrical heart
in the cumbered neighborhoods or even,
as Mozart sometimes managed to, in a palace,

offering tune after tune after tune,
making some hard-hearted prince
prudent and kind, just by being happy.

A Bridge Too Far Over Troubled Waters?

Jacob Collier’s arrangement of “Bridge Over Troubled Waters” from his recent album Djesse Vol. 4 is simply breathtaking… and crazy… maybe even a bridge too far? But I can’t get enough of it!

It all started with him seeing a short of Yebba. He was taken with it and decided to layer on some of his characteristic a cappella harmonization.

Then, he decided to expand the arrangement and include some other vocalists, including the unparalleled Tori Kelly. He mapped out specific, mind-bending vocal riffs that would be layered over his sophisticated reharmonization. She, being the good sport and incredible talent that she is, followed his directions:

Add in some labyrinthine key changes and the vocal chops of the great John Legend, and you the final brilliant product:

If you want to go down the rabbit hole further and explore the genius behind it all, you can check out his breakdown of the Logic session of his recording–all 316 layers! It’s kaleidoscopic!

Guitars per capita

I’m listening to Hans Rosling’s excellent Factfulness, which chronicles the many ways things have improved in our world. Familiar with Pinker’s work on the same subject, much of this terrain is familiar (reductions in extreme poverty, childhood mortality, deaths from natural disasters, maternal mortality; rises in literacy, education of girls, vaccination, etc.), but there are some fun discoveries too. For instance, playable guitars per capita. Certainly not as important as the other trends, but one we can be grateful for nonetheless!

And we can be grateful that there are people like Julian Lage to play them. One of my favourite Lage tracks is “The Ramble.” Listen to the simply brilliant studio version and then his jaw-dropping solo take on it:

Little Drama Boy

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