Gray Songs

I was listening to two pieces from  Time Remembered on the commute to work today and was struck how this music played by an acoustic guitar ensemble reminded me so much of Debussey. The gentle ambiguity that I love of Debussy so nicely summed up by Verlaine:

        Nothing is more precious than that gray song,
       Where indecision is joined to precision.

If I had not known what I was listening to was written by Bill Evans I would have guessed Debussy, with progressions unresolved or incomplete, the gentle dissonances that keep moving forward like a wave. So lovely.

I then listened to my own improvisations from the Alive Again sessions. I found myself thinking this might not be the time after having just listened to the master John McLaughlin, but I needed to return to making decisions on this project. The gentle bell sounds from the audience cleared my mind and I listened through. 


I was eager to practice tonight but first had to deal with some matters with friends and family on the phone. Good stuff all in all, and great to catch up, but when I was finished I was more in the mood to curl up with a book. So I did, sort of - Harmonic Experience: Tonal Harmony from Its Natural Origins to Its Modern Expressionby W. A Mathieu, which led to picking up the guitar. I really should spend more time with that book, and with my guitar and ... but until my passive income stream becomes more active I'm with the day job. Knowing I can come home first to my loving wife and then to my guitar gives meaning to my day.


Twenty minutes of focused work on a technical issue in Steppin' Stones and then 30 minutes playing with parts of the chord progressions I found last night. Altering the rhythms and adding tones to see what might be there. One particularly Enoesque arpeggio captivated me and I returned to this a few times unsure what to do with the idea. Smiling I packed my guitar and will soon be sleeping.