Sacrifice

I stumbled across an old Jazz Times interview with John Zorn (I'm guessing - late 90's/early 00's) which includes some candid reflections on the state and future of the music and the biz. It’s a great read. Quite refreshing compared to a lot of the discussion going around on various music forums and blogs – where the topics tend to be centered on “how am I gonna get paid?” in the new digital age. Of course, he doesn’t bother to talk much biz, instead he rails against the greed and consumerism that steer us toward the corporate mass market and away from independence and individuality…

Many are rightly concerned that there is no way for a musician to make a living these days. It’s a topic I’ve touched upon before. And if you are considering a career in the music biz, I would agree that it’s a scary time.

What does this have to do with Zorn? Well… since you asked, I’ve cut out some (in my opinion) very poignant quotes from the interview, for anyone who fancies themselves an artist. We sometimes forget what it's all about. I think Mr. Zorn, more than anyone else I’ve read lately, hits the points that many – in the mad rush to find a “new 2.0 business model” – are missing.

Quote #1. It’s long but I don’t want to distill it by editing.

…That’s what it takes— courage. It takes more courage than most people have. There’s less than one percent of people like that, but the world could not exist without them. The world would not move forward without them, and I really believe that. I think the outsiders, the indi­vidualists, the people who have a messianic belief in themselves and are able to stick with their vision despite all odds—and be­lieve me, every day of my life I’m haunted and tormented by the voices of people that are saying in my ear, “Maybe you’re wrong.” But the people that can stick with that, they’re the ones that are re­ally going to make a difference in the world. And they will always be a small number and I’ve always aspired to be one of that number.

I think about the people that I admire, people like Jack Smith, who lived in a small apartment right over here on First Avenue and died of AIDS 10 years ago. I worked with him for about eight years in the late ‘70s helping him with his theater performances that never more than 10 people attended. And, I mean, this was some of the greatest shit I ever experi­enced. Here was a guy my age performing for 10 people. And I think about John Cage not getting an orchestra commission until he was over 50 years old. When he was my age he was still working as a dishwasher, you know? I think about that and I say, “Those are the models. I’ve gotta live up to that.”

Am I that passionate, driven and confident that I will wash dishes when I am 50, because that’s the only way to pay the bills? It just may come to that the way things are going. Music isn’t exactly a rare commodity....

…I do think that history is going to have to be rewritten in the next hundred or so years, as it always has been. People that were really popular in their time eventually disappeared and were forgotten. And people who struggled and did it the hard way and concentrated on the music and tried to make something great, eventually their work came to light. It’s often well after they’re dead. It’s rarely in their lifetime and if it is in their lifetime it’s at the end of it… That’s beautiful in a certain sense and a fucking tragedy in another sense…

Are you seeing the same theme as I am? The word that comes to my mind when reading all this is SACRIFICE. What are we willing to sacrifice in the name of art and expression? Is it a right or a privilege or a goddamn necessity?

I think about what the truly gifted musicians I know all have in common. Some basic beliefs… Music is sacred. EVERY NOTE is important. Every time you pick up an instrument is a performance – and it could be your last – so put everything you have into it.

Thinking of it this way... keeps things simple, and much more profound.

So here is my new mantra: You are a musician, no one owes you anything. You owe everything to the music. Do not think in terms of what you want to get (fame, fortune, recording contracts, free donuts for life) but in terms of what you are willing to give.

Now go practice…