My father is a lover of mainstream jazz (and an excellent jazz pianist too). Of late he loves the music of Monty Alexander, so when I visited him a few days ago I brought him an album he was looking for, “The Monty Alexander Trio – Live at the Montreux Festival”. As we put on the LP, the first, ten-minute-long track “Nite MIst Blues“, was simply immense. So, so much in it, I can’t describe how amazing that track is.
I may not be able to describe his music, but Monty Alexander can. What a gift to both be a brilliant musician and one that can articulate their thoughts in writing the way he does:
“For the most part, when I play music, I smell it and see colors. Every song has its own personality, its own soul, and if I can’t feel it, I can’t play it with feeling. I don’t understand what it is that makes me different, but I feel I have very little in common with anybody else. I seem to be my own strange character. If I’m right in my motivations and attitude, amazing things happen.” ~ Monty Alexander
Sometimes a short phrase just stops me in my tracks. “when I play music, I smell it and see colors” is one such phrase.
I wish for us all that, on occasion, we can express ourselves in such a way.