Blog: Marty’s Blogs

Responsibility to the Highest Power

Posted on February 13, 2012 by Marty Khan

“People can think that something’s happening when nothing’s going on; but they can’t think that nothing’s happening when something’s going on.”

 - Sonny Fortune (1996)

My last two blog posts at Khanfrontation were about Commitment and Responsibility. You might think that I was writing about pain and starvation for all the reluctance that so many people seem to have to these two elements – essential for everything from high artistry to meaningful love. Neither of these sacred pursuits (and all other important ones) can be truly achieved without the intensive embrace of both substances. They need to be viewed in the same way that great food is a source of bodily nourishment.

In my 48 years of exposure to profound artistry, I’ve been powerfully blessed to have seen these forces at work at the highest level as both a recipient of them and a facilitator. On the latter tip, I’ve been privileged to have represented some of the most extraordinary messengers of profound Truth – and recognized as such by MacArthur Genius Awards, Kennedy Center Honors, The Pulitzer Prize and NEA Jazz Mastery. Unrecognized by all of those (and similar) honors, the man who I quote above stands equally tall. The day after he said that to me, he illustrated the concept of Responsibility in a manner that will remain prominent in my consciousness for as long as I have one.

We were driving uptown in the early hours of a Friday morning after two amazing sets by his quartet at Sweet Basil. As stunning as the music was, the audience reception was only mildly enthusiastic. Sonny just kept shaking his head and saying “I don’t know, man. I gotta figure this out.” I tried to explain it away in every way I could imagine – Thursday night; prices that discouraged the real fans; club-style distractions; etc. As we pulled in front of the post-gig all-night bagel joint, he uttered that quote, followed by “It’s on me. It’s my responsibility.”

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The Artistry of the Responsibility of Artistry

Posted on February 7, 2012 by Marty Khan

The value of a man is as great as his responsibility.

 - Hazrat Inayat Khan

This does not mean giving up any freedom except the freedom to act irresponsibility.

 - Klaatu – The Day the Earth Stood Still (in his warning to planet Earth)

In my last post I lamented the dearth – not death, although it’s getting there – of true Commitment. But even that profound level of Commitment has little value if it’s not accompanied by its sibling – Responsibility.

These days responsibility seems to be defined simply as the lack of total irresponsibility. If someone is responsible about this, that or the other thing, they consider themselves to be responsible beings – even if they’re irresponsible for two out of every three other items. This isn’t baseball, y’all – where batting .300 will get you into the Hall of Fame. Responsibility is like pregnancy – you are, or you ain’t.

I’ve dealt with artists who think that if they show up for the gig, rehearsals and interviews on time and prepared, it makes them responsible. But there are so many other layers of responsibility involved – to the other musicians, the promoter, the manager, the agent, the audience, and on and on. And in kind, that sense of responsibility needs to be held front and center by those sidemen, promoters, managers, agents and audiences. It’s a big symbiotic relationship of filigree delicacy. One misstep and the entire structure can implode.

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‘Compromising’ Your Music Without Sacrificing Integrity

Posted on January 25, 2012 by Marty Khan

 “Art and Spirituality and Commitment are all very important, but if you can have some barbecued shrimp along the way, there ain’t nothin’ wrong with that.”

 - Lester Bowie

When I heard the great trumpeter/wit/visionary/prankster say this to a promoter who asked that if the Art Ensemble of Chicago was so “spiritual” how come they were so into Italian clothes and fine champagne, I knew when I stopped laughing that I had heard something profound. As usual, Lester hit the issue square in the belly. Commitment and integrity don’t demand walking on hot coals, self-flagellation, asceticism or any of the other trappings of stark self-denial and extreme sacrifice.

There is an enormous amount of joy, exuberance and deep satisfaction that results from the pursuit of transcendence and profound truth.

Too many artists – and people in all walks of life – shy away from commitment to that challenging tightrope between artistic integrity and economic success. They view the path as too hard and requiring too much sacrifice of the little pleasures that are so enticing to the frivolous pursuits of fun and pleasure. It often stuns me as to the obstructions and diversions that they throw in front of themselves to undermine their own potential. Sometimes they convince themselves that they are refusing to compromise. This allows them to take on the inertia of “why bother” that allows them to indulge themselves in the mundane under the delusion of commitment. This may be one of the worst – among so many – means of self-destructiveness employed by the artist. And that includes a certain contempt for including the earning of money in their pursuits of artistry.

But once you take on the title of “professional musician” the first word demands the same focus and commitment as the second. Inherently that creates a context of compromise – of a sort. Continue reading →

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Commitment: Diluted, Deluded and Omitted

Posted on January 17, 2012 by Marty Khan

“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” 

- Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.

On this day when we commemorate the ultimate sacrifice of Reverend King, and as I contemplate the recent passing of my teacher, mentor and first management client, Sam Rivers, the subject matter of my first blog post is most appropriate.

What does Commitment really mean anymore? Way more than half of all marriages end in divorce, and way less than half of all supposedly committed relationships end up in marriage (official or otherwise). Fathers leave children behind in order to pursue fun, freedom and that most delusional of self-serving excuses for irresponsible behavior – spiritual discovery and realization.

Now, I’m not talking about committing to a weekly dance class or dabbling in a half-hour of practice every day. I’m talking about capital-C Commitment – the life and death reality of needing to stay on the Path with the same urgency and essential need as exhaling after inhaling.

For someone who came of age – as I did – during the years in which the magnificent John Coltrane was bestowing upon us his most sacred substance of true sacrifice and absolute Love, this sense of Commitment is so utterly obvious that to think of living without it would be completely absurd. So maybe I have no right to expect it from a society that holds its torchbearers (no names, please) to such lightweight substance. Continue reading →

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