- 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.”

A full day of practice and concentrated focus followed. That night’s music reached heights that simply surpass description. It remains one of the most profound experiences in a life that has been so blessedly full of them – and remains vividly etched in the forefront of my consciousness to this moment. The house went absolutely bonkers for all three sets. The jaded doorman said he’d never felt that kind of energy in a Jazz club in his 15 years on the job. I heard comparisons to Jimi Hendrix from at least four different people. The word Transcendent – also tossed about profusely that night – is simply too mundane to properly describe it.

From that night on the word Responsibility was no longer one of burden, but one of glorious expression.

We live in a time when arrogant indifference and lazy self-indulgence diminishes responsibility to a shrugged off sputter of “My bad.” Two words that have a cadence and attitude too much akin to other two syllable blurts like Who cares, So what, Up yours and Fuck you. To my mind, it’s a euphemism for the same message.

Responsibility is not something you put on like fine clothing to be worn on special occasions when we need to look our best. It’s a way of life, an expression of good intent, an understanding of what it is to accept the privilege of life among others. At its finest, it allows one to offer what Sonny Fortune bestowed upon a few hundred most fortunate (pun intended) beings that night – a blessing of love at its most profound level. Embracing responsibility as a way of life also demands understanding it in its widest angle perspective. There are so many layers of responsibility that must be perceived and recognized both to realize that which we must provide and that to which we are due. In business – where the lower substance of income production so easily clouds the essence of deeper pursuit – that is even more challenging. The great sports agent Bob Woolf once said something along these lines: “If I don’t take the needs of the team into account when representing my client, I can’t do right by either of them.”

We who represent artists are often despised for our perceived failures to care, understand, recognize, respect (and similar whatnot), the struggles and needs of the artist. And sometimes it’s justified. But it’s really essential for the artist to understand the multi-textured set of responsibilities of their agents and managers.

Straight Ahead… addresses issues of responsibility in dozens of places.  Download the free eBook excerpt that explains a few of the artist/representatives’ responsibilities by  clicking the image below:

If this piece interests you, please add your thoughts in a comment below and use the social network buttons to share it with your community.  Subscribe to this blog to receive new articles by email and exclusive e-books, discounts, and offers on Outward Visions products and services.  Marty Khan is the author of “Straight Ahead: A Comprehensive Guide To The Business of Jazz (Without Sacrificing Dignity or Artistic Integrity)” now available as an e-book, and is currently working on an anthology of articles chronicling the beautiful art and the ugly industry of jazz.  The anthology is scheduled for digital release in March of 2012.

 - 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.

We have painful empirical evidence of what can happen when Responsibility is abandoned simply by viewing our current economic crisis. When CEOs, bankers, landlords and elected officials see only the small picture of their own personal interests, devastation of tsunami proportions occurs. For us in the arts, the stakes are much smaller, but the effects are the same – a microcosm of the grander version.

Just as the placebo version of commitment I wrote about last time has marginalized true Commitment, so has a synthetic sense of responsibility eclipsed the type of real responsibility that is so terribly needed in these challenging times. CEOs talk of their responsibilities to the stockholders over their employees; the banker to the corporate clients over the small businesses; the landlords to their families over their tenants; the politicians to their contributors over their constituents.

But it’s just talk- an excuse to be self-indulgent, greedy and manipulative rather than to create the context of expansive growth and mutual benefit that was supposed to be the principles upon which this country was supposedly founded (well, for white folks anyway – but that’s a subject for a whole other narrative than this one). So what could be more irresponsible than redefining the concept of responsibility for one’s own self-serving purposes?

It’s not just the one-percenter Daddy Warbucks, corporate jetting CEOs, Wall Street warlords and political royalty who are guilty; sometimes it’s also pianists, saxophonists, singer/songwriters and the various business manipulators of their environment who are equally guilty of this behavior. Irresponsibility has seeped into every aspect of our lives like the spew from an overflowing toilet leeches into the bedroom carpeting.

The indifference, arrogance and self-indulgence of too many who ford the streams of Planet Culture are equally abhorrent and similarly damaging. While they don’t have the same devastating effect on as many people, the amorality and immorality are of the same substance.

Is the mugger who steals a wallet better than the thief who holds up a restaurant full of diners? Is that thief better than the con man who bilks a hundred old folks out of their savings? And is that swindler better than Bernie Madoff? If we start justifying irresponsibly and self-serving by the degrees to which we do it, where does it end?

Too often the existence of commitment – even and sometimes even true commitment – actually becomes an excuse for irresponsibility. I’ve seen a few too many artists excuse their own irresponsible actions as putting their art above all else. And I’ve seen too many decent folks excuse the outrageous behavior of artists because their artistry entitles them to be that way. Bullshit! True Commitment to your art demands total Responsibility for it to thrive in its fullest and most glorious manifestation – responsibility to one’s playing, to one’s growth, to one’s studies, to one’s creativity, to one’s collaborators, to one’s business colleagues, to one’s family and to one’s inner goodness and spirituality (and I don’t mean those ersatz new-age versions either).

That responsibility is not of the moment, into the near future or for a while either. It must be conceived and understood in time and space – how today’s actions affect those of tomorrow, next week, next year and maybe for the rest of your life and the lives of those who you touch.

This was understood and embraced by Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington throughout their careers. It was embraced and understood by the polar opposite essences of Miles Davis and the glorious John Coltrane. All of these men had long, consistent and mutually beneficial relationship with their musicians, their audiences and their business colleagues. (Now don’t nitpick about this or that event – you know what I’m saying!)

Only when True Commitment and Full Responsibility crisscross the path of Profound Truth does the miraculous occur. And isn’t that why we do what we do? Or if not, shouldn’t it be?

If this piece interests you, please add your thoughts in a comment below and use the social network buttons to share it with your community.  Subscribe to this blog to receive new articles by email and exclusive e-books, discounts, and offers on Outward Visions products and services.  Marty Khan is the author of “Straight Ahead: A Comprehensive Guide To The Business of Jazz (Without Sacrificing Dignity or Artistic Integrity)” now available as an e-book, and is currently working on an anthology of articles chronicling the beautiful art and the ugly industry of jazz.  The anthology is scheduled for digital release in March of 2012.

This is a great opportunity to finally get the book everyone’s been talking about and recommending. In this business, what you don’t know will hurt you.

“Marty Khan is the master of the way in which the business of the arts is conducted. No classroom course, convention panel, or self-serving industry hype will present the truth in the way this book presents it.”  - George Russell

“Finally, a book that really tells it like it is, from someone who has clearly been through and seen it all.” – D.D. Jackson

“By utilizing his methods and ideas, I’ve been able to successfully pursue all of my artistic goals entirely under my own discretion, while maintaining ownership and control of my own artistic creations and career.” – Oliver Lake

“A MUST HAVE.” – Craig Harris

“I strongly urge you to order Straight Ahead – the best and most comprehensive guide to an understanding of how to function and improve your business acumen and awareness.” – Fred Ho

“Read it! Written from an insider’s point of view, Straight Ahead is the truth!”
– Giacomo Gates

Don’t miss out on this great offer and please pass the word!

Straight Ahead Advice is determinately being kept separate from Khanfrontation so that it remains true its name: straight ahead, and no bullshit.  Khan wants to ensure readers he is gunning for their success by separating fact from forecast, experience from opinion, and methods from musings.

The first post of Straight Ahead Advice can be read as a direct corollary to the first post of Khanfrontation. While capital ‘C’ Commitment is important, Lester Bowie imparts some profound wisdom on why Committed artists don’t necessarily need to live with constant struggle and self-impediment.  Khan also reveals the true nature of the word ‘compromise’ and how to make the most out of your career as a professional musician.

Don’t forget to use the widget on our sidebar to subscribe to Khanfrontation and Straight Ahead Advice. Subscribers will receive exclusive offers and discounts on OVI products.  Further, purchasers of Straight Ahead: A Comprehensive Guide to the Business of Jazz (Without Sacrificing Dignity or Artistic Integrity) whether in the print or e-book version, will receive an invitation to an online streaming video seminar with Marty where they will have the chance to have their questions answered (regular online-admission price: $10).  In addition to all of that, we will also be sending a coupon to book-purchasers for a half-hour of direct, one-on-one consulting with Marty via Skype for only $25 (regular prices: $40/half hour, $75/hour).

So for $20 you get an eBook worth $100, a free online seminar ticket worth $10, and a $25 credit toward direct consulting.  I’m no mathematician, but that sounds like you just gained $115 in valuable information that will work for you for the rest of your career.

And barbecued shrimp for all,

Kyle

 - 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.

A certain well-known pianist told me in the early career stages “I don’t want to compromise my music.” My response was “the first time you accepted a dollar to play the piano, you compromised your music. Now let’s try to make the most of your decision. Otherwise you should go into the woods, the desert or a cave and play just for God.”

But the compromise in pursuing the ducats does not have to mean a compromise of integrity. That requires serious thought and honesty.

Here’s what I say in my book Straight Ahead… about the issue of compromise:

Download the free eBooklet excerpt from Straight Ahead… by clicking the image below.

If this piece interests you, please add your thoughts in a comment below and use the social network buttons to share it with your community.  Subscribe to this blog to receive new articles by email and exclusive e-books, discounts, and offers on Outward Visions products and services.  Marty Khan is the author of “Straight Ahead: A Comprehensive Guide To The Business of Jazz (Without Sacrificing Dignity or Artistic Integrity)” now available as an e-book, and is currently working on an anthology of articles chronicling the beautiful art and the ugly industry of jazz.  The anthology is scheduled for digital release in March of 2012.

In conjunction with Khanfrontation, OutwardVisions.com will soon launch a sister blog aimed at picking up the pieces of readers left broken by the harsh words of Khanfrontation.  This new blog, Straight Ahead Advice, is Marty’s way of saying to readers, “It’s not all bad, here are some tips to help you navigate the Path.”  [More on the capital 'P' Path in post #1 of Khanfrontation].

Lastly, make sure you use the widget on our sidebar to subscribe to Khanfrontation. Subscribers will receive exclusive offers and discounts on OVI products.  Further, purchasers of Straight Ahead: A Comprehensive Guide to the Business of Jazz (Without Sacrificing Dignity or Artistic Integrity) whether in the print or e-book version, will receive an invitation to an online streaming video seminar with Marty where they will have the chance to have their questions answered (regular online-admission price: $10).  In addition to all of that, we will also be sending a coupon to book-purchasers for a half-hour of direct, one-on-one consulting with Marty via Skype for only $25 (regular prices: $40/half hour, $75/hour).

With so much additional value packed in there, and the e-book priced at the incredibly low $20, how could you not opt-in?  And don’t forget to subscribe to the blog either!

Stay Committed friends,

Kyle

- 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.

Whether I have that right or not, I still have to lament what appears to me not only to be an extreme dearth of that commitment, but an actual resentment and rejection of those who actually possess it. Even worse, too many people see that Commitment in those who claim to possess it – but don’t. And there lies the greatest obstacle to true Commitment – the proliferation of hustlers and hucksters who are not only deceiving a short-cut hungry populace as to its easy access, but have deceived themselves into thinking that they are the sources who provide it.

Even during the most progressive era in our recent history, the 1960s – I feel secure in saying that no more than 20% (and probably far less) of the populace actually pursued the higher matter of Truth and Enlightenment. Rowing against the stream was difficult, challenging and often frustrating work. But there was at least the comfort and satisfaction in knowing that there were others trudging that same tough road, and for the most part, they seemed recognizable. But now there are so many poseurs and posturers; so much talked talk and so little walked walk, that it’s so hard for the acolyte to the true path to tell the truly committed from the newly submitted.

I would venture to say that 75% of that rarified 20% pursue a path of half-assed commitment, and mostly to their own selfish and lazy purposes. And it’s that 15% of the populace who create a deeper challenge from the remaining 5% than the 80% that’s pursuing the tried-and-true formulas of the good ol’ American Dream of comfort, wealth and simple fun.

So how did this come about? When did Truth, Enlightenment and the Profound lose their capital letters? One angle of perception takes us back to the divine John Coltrane, who embraced the highest principles in both inspiration and pursuit. One of his truest disciples – the incredible saxophonist Sonny Fortune – explained it to me this way. “When Trane was here only one man had the right to stand up and say ‘I’m the Man’, but he never would. When Trane passed, 50 guys stood up and said ‘Now, I’m the Man.’” And then, more succinctly, he added “When Trane passed, cats just wiped their brows and said ‘Phew, the heat is off.’”

Now as we are immersed in the self-induced slavery of a technological placebo of instant gratification, the appearance of accomplishment seems to be enough for most people. And having dealt for the past two years with students and young artists who proclaim themselves as truly committed, the lack of true commitment glares like the Tucson sun off of a silver rooftop. Have we simply Facebooked, Spotified and YouTubed ourselves into obliviousness to what is really supposed to matter – even to those who at least claim to want more than the mundane and frivolous? Or have we just re-defined frivolity and mediocrity into something that lets us look into our mirrors with less self-contempt? And in doing so, there seems to be no choice other than to subject those who are on the true search for the miraculous to dismissal, denigration and condemnation for causing discomfort to those who are so proud to dabble with the divine.

If John Coltrane were to arrive on the scene today, he wouldn’t be received with the acclaim, appreciation and gratitude he was accorded back then. Instead, he’d have little alternative to playing in the street; and most likely to be chased away by store owners who would find him to be detrimental to their best business interests. Do we find a way out of this malaise or do those of us who remember something else have to be satisfied with the nostalgic memories of it?

If this piece interests you, please add your thoughts in a comment below and use the social network buttons to share it with your community.  Subscribe to this blog to receive new articles by email and exclusive e-books, discounts, and offers on Outward Visions products and services.  Marty Khan is the author of “Straight Ahead: A Comprehensive Guide To The Business of Jazz (Without Sacrificing Dignity or Artistic Integrity)” now available as an e-book, and is currently working on an anthology of articles chronicling the beautiful art and the ugly industry of jazz.  The anthology is scheduled for digital release in March of 2012.

http://www.outwardvisions.com/straight-ahead-ebook/