Gig Report

Played a gig today at school with the "Coincident Currents" crew - that would be my friends poet Leonard Kress, visual artist Mania Dajnak and myself as musical hyjinks-ician. I think it was a particularly good version of what we do - we seem to be getting the hang of doing this together. I played guitar and (for the first time) shakuhachi. The old bamboo wind machine seemed to be particularly effective, esp during Len's poems that referenced Zen, asceticism and nature. In fact, I was shocked at my own spontaneous reaction to the last poem he read - a love letter to the earth. I started to cry (not sure why, but it got me) and had to catch myself to play out the rest of the poem and a brief shaku-finale to the set. One of our colleagues who was there sent me this (very moving) e-mail poem minutes afterwards so I'm posting it here with her permission (thanks Joy!):

Improvisation for Eric


Eric plays the flute

The notes seem to lift my breastbone

The notes breathe for me

They pour through me like a river of light

Eric plays the flute

The music asks a question

Asks it again and again

I don’t need to have the answer

Eric plays the flute