Forum - Week 7 - John 3:16 and Revelations

An actual artist for the “Artist Talk”! Derek Pascoe is a renowned improvisatory
saxophonist, and we were lucky enough to have some Improv tips imparted for use in
our own performances, and perhaps in our very lives. Despite his obvious talent, he
had no qualms in saying he can be ‘wrong’ in his approaches to music, and seems to
have instigated a sponge-like attitude- literally absorbing various attitudes
towards improvisation from musical experiences. It was very engaging to have a
totally selfless professional musician present us with his ideals. A thought occurs-
perhaps this is the personality that improvisation breeds? I’m sure having to
respect other musician’s personal musical space during performances would eventually
spill over into other aspects of life, possibly even amalgamating into a total
respect for you fellow man. Derek said he is not a religious man, but when he plays
he feels something other than himself inside him, allowing the music to come from
some other place. Although I am not religious either, the power that ‘his’ talent
has had on his life and thus imparted to others is something to ponder through. Can
we be so self-absorbed to believe that existence is limited to perception? Perhaps
we are just maggots in a carcass, but our carcass is a vacuum filled with exploding
balls of hydrogen and helium. Difficult to prove either way, I suppose ‘faith’ comes
from picking a side. And if you don’t believe in aliens you are too shallow to talk
to.

Group 3 (?) was given the chance to jam with the man himself. After several topic
changes they reached a nice area of conversation, the most engaging being the
instrumental arguments occurring between the guitarist John “3:16” Delaney and
Derek. I gained a valuable perspective on improvisation from this session- it’s more
about what everyone else is playing than what you are playing. You can’t just jump
in to a scene because you haven’t played in a while, there must be an entry point.
Although theoretically there might never be, such is the nature of improvisation. I
guess you could say, “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at
all.” Or even, “Better to be quiet and let people think you’re an idiot, than open
your mouth and prove it.”



Two Irishmen are standing at the bottom of a flagpole, when a blonde pulls up in her car. She gets
out and asks the men, "Why are you looking at that pole?” One of the Irishmen replies, "We're
trying to figure out how high this pole is so we know how much rope we need to hoist a flag, but
we have no idea how to measure it." The blonde declares, "Oh that's easy, just wait here." The
two Irishmen watch curiously as she removes a spanner and measuring tape from her car, and
proceeds to unscrew the pole, lay it down and measure it. "15 metres" stated the blonde proudly,
as she got back in her car and drove off. "Typical blonde," said one of the Irishmen, "We wanted
to know how high it is, not how long it is."