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Social distancing on Abbey Road
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I'm sure many people are having trouble adjusting to the reality of social distancing and working from home. This lockdown has made us all think much more about how we structure our lives and what's important to us. Ironically, as it unfolds, we are discovering new ways to communicate; being forced to isolate has actually brought us together.
Working from home certainly has its advantages - it can actually make you more productive, as long as you keep the distractions to a minimum. Easier said than done, but I'm living proof that it's possible.
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| Distractions |
My working life in the last 20 years has involved extended periods of
travel, mostly around Asia, followed by several weeks of relative
isolation in my workroom in Auckland, New Zealand.
One key component in balancing work and home life is music, so I've put together some suggestions for how music can make the home/work situation more enjoyable.
At home, I've got plenty to distract me - guitars, big TV and hi-fi all within easy reach. So it's important for me to have structure and to build the distractions formally into the day. So, for example, a 15 minute break, morning and afternoon, for some reading or guitar practice.
In a home/work environment, some music sits better than others. If what I'm doing doesn't require too much creative concentration, I'll go
for something tuneful and engaging. In most cases, where I'm writing, it's music without a beat. As a
drummer in another life, I find it hard not to zero in on the beat if I've got rock or funk music playing.
Ambience - early days
If you want to have music going on, but nothing too distracting, ambient is ideal.
I started out, post-millennium, compiling music playlists, including the likes of Kruder & Dorfmeister's K&D Sessions and albums from the 1970s and 80s like Mark Isham's Vapor Drawings, adding in classic synthesiser music by Tangerine Dream (the Phaedra, Zeit and Rubicon albums), plus film music such as Lalo Schifrin's Bullitt soundtrack and Brian Eno's Apollo Atmosphere & Soundtracks.
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Andreas Vollenweider in concert
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I still love harpist Andreas Vollenweider's first album from 1982, called Behind the Gardens - Behind the Wall - Under the Tree... One artist I would love to see play live.
EDIT: And I did! Went to Utrecht in the Netherlands last October and finally got to see him play. It was so worth it. My wife said it was the best concert she’s ever been to.
I bought all the Buddha-Bar boxes as they came out, after a memorably exotic night drinking whisky at the original Paris club, hosted by a French client. It was a particularly auspicious occasion because we had earlier that day seen England beat France at rugby.
I kept coming back to one consistent source of ambient quality - the San Francisco radio station Hearts of Space. Their soundscapes are designed mainly for those seeking transcendence - and stoners I imagine, but they are also suitable for the home worker. Highly recommended. Here's a link that shows their various ambient music sub-genres: https://v4.hos.com/channels
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| The Hearts Of Space website - slow music for fast times |
Their slogan is Slow Music For Fast Times. The shows are all themed and typically last around 40 minutes to an hour. There are free programs once a week and a subscription streaming service.
The quality of the music, to these ears, is always high.
This was the very first Hearts of Space show that I heard back in 1990s - Drifter, which gives you a good idea of what to expect:
https://v4.hos.com/programs/details/445
A couple of years ago I saw Kruangbin live. Their music is quite distinctive and effective as background. My nephew even used it for atmosphere at his wedding.
ECM Records
Acoustic, analogue ambient music. ECM has been described as 'the most beautiful sound next to silence'.
What separates it from new age doodling is the quality
of the composition, the playing and the recording.
My collection of ECM records is mostly on vinyl and is largely from the label's classic period in the 1970s, when it still had people like
Chick Corea and
Pat Metheny on its roster. My favourite ECM artist is
Ralph Towner - such a beautiful and uplifting guitarist, whatever mood you're in.
The constant factor in the 'ECM sound' is Talent Studios in Oslo, Norway, where most of the classic albums were recorded by sound engineers Jan Erik Kongshaug and Martin Wieland. The catalogue is huge, but here are some recommendations based on my own collection:
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| ECM - the most beautiful sound next to silence |
John Abercrombie/Ralph Towner - Sargasso Sea
Anouar Brahem - Thimar
Gary Burton/Steve Swallow - Hotel Hello
Gary Burton Quintet - Ring
Chick Corea/Gary Burton - Crystal Silence
Chick Corea - Return To Forever
Egberto Gismonti - Sol Do Meio Dia
Charlie Haden/Jan Garbarek - Magico
Zakir Hussain - Making Music
Keith Jarrett - My Song / Belonging
Keith Jarrett - Nude Ants
Pat Metheny Group / Offramp / First Circle
Enrico Rava - The Plot
Ralph Towner - Anthem
Ralph Towner - Diary / Solstice
Ralph Towner - Solo Concert
Ralph Towner/Gary Burton -Matchbook
Eberhard Weber - Fluid Rustle
Kenny Wheeler - Gnu High
One of my all-time favourite atmospheric jazz records is the Pat Metheny and Lyle Mays album '
As Falls Wichita, So Falls Wichita Falls'. It is a wonderfully sequenced LP that evokes various moods, largely uplifting. But it can also be
contemplative, if listened to away from your desk.
Acoustic guitar music
I can get enjoyment from guitar, letting it float around behind me while I work.
There's a lot of really good acoustic guitar music around, but I'm definitely old school. I tend to listen to the folk players from the past, such as
Davy Graham,
Bert Jansch and John Renbourn,
John Fahey,
Stefan Grossman and
Leo Kottke, with more modern exceptions like James Elkington and kiwi (via Long Island) guitar genius Nigel Gavin.
Recommended while you work:
Bruce Cockburn - Circles In The Stream
James Elkington - Wintres Woma
John Fahey - Of Rivers & Religion
Nigel Gavin - Visitation
Gitbox Rebellion - Curveball
Stefan Grossman - Guitar Instrumentals (Memphis Jellyroll)
Michael Gulezian - Unspoken Intentions
Michael Hedges - Aerial Boundaries
The Bert Jansch Sampler
Pat Metheny - One Quiet Night
Pentangle - Sweet Child
The John Renbourn Sampler
Alan Stivell - Reflections
Guitar legend John McLaughlin is making his latest album with Indian musicians Shankar Mahadevan and Zakir Hussain available free on bandcamp. Could be just the thing as background music while you work. Here's the link:
http://bandcamp.com/download?from=freealt&id=2761759527&ts=1586774597.1617045811&tsig=0c3772192f4f87882e6b8499e5346fda&type=album
Jazz
Some people take inspiration or motivation from their background music.
The Japanese author Huraki Murakami says he almost always works listening to music. Murakami used to own a jazz bar in Tokyo and has at least 10,000 vinyl records. He has a nice work life situation too, as you can see below.
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| Murakami's study room |
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| Jazz - all great albums regardless of the situation |
Here's a list of jazz recordings I'll play while I work:
Cannonball Adderley - Somethin' Else
Ron Carter - All Blues
John Coltrane- Blue Train
Chick Corea - Piano Improvisations Vol 2
Miles Davis - Sketches of Spain
Miles Davis - My Funny Valentine
Miles Davis - In A Silent Way
Miles Davis - Jack Johnson
Kevin Eubanks - Spirit Talk 1 & 2
Bill Evans Trio - Portrait in Jazz
Stan Getz - Reflections
Herbie Hancock - Maiden Voyage / Empyrean Isles
Charles Mingus - Tijuana Moods
Modern Jazz Quartet - Blues at Carnegie Hall
Wes Montgomery - So Much Guitar
Steps Ahead
I hope you get something out of these working from home tips. It looks like we are all going to have plenty of opportunity to experiment with the concept as this whole lockdown plays out.
Here's an interesting take on what working home might mean after Covid-19
https://www.theedgesingapore.com/news/covid-19/world-economy-working-home-gets-glimpse-virtual-future
Keep calm and stay safe, wherever you are. Enjoy the music.
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At the end of the day. On the stereo, Fripp & Eno. On the TV, Joni Mitchell's Shadows & Light.
The guitars are by Sigma, Taylor (12-string) and Seagull (open-tuned) |
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See also on this blog: Pat Metheny - live in 2020 and back in time
https://bangnzdrum.blogspot.com/2020/03/pat-metheny-live-in-2020-and-way-back.html
He is best known for his work with the Pat Metheny Group, which for many years included his closest musical partners, pianist Lyle Mays, who sadly died last month, and bassist Steve Rodby.
Outside of the group, he has collaborated with vibraphone legend Gary Burton, bassist Charlie Haden and with Chick Corea, among many others. Metheny began recording professionally in the 1970s alongside the legendary bassist Jaco Pastorius, another player who had that ability to shift from the tender to the jarring.
Metheny's recorded work is often melodic and played with a distinctive style that once heard is seldom forgotten. But he has also wandered off into darker areas, taking influences from free jazzers like Ornette Coleman. On many of his albums, over the last 20 years especially, there are moments that jolt the listener. He doesn't always play safe and has never been afraid to push the boundaries.
Now 65, he has reached a point where he feels able to revisit some of his most popular tunes, with the help of his three-piece band, consisting of Gwilym Simcock on piano, Linda May Han Oh on bass and Antonio Sanchez on drums.
For his current audience, many of whom are here for the nice tunes, the good news is that Metheny will be playing reasonably familiar material. He told the audience he started out with a short tour two years ago ‘playing the hits’, which he admitted was unusual. It’s gone down so well with audiences he has just kept going, extending the tour into places like NZ, where he has only been once before in his almost 50 year career.
As the concert began, Metheny sat alone at the centre of the stage holding a very strange looking instrument - a many headed monster called a Manzer Pikasso. incorporating 6 and 12 string guitars and various other strings spanning across its body - 42 strings and he utilised them all, to great effect.
The set also featured material from his various collaborations, plus a piece from the solo acoustic album ‘One Quiet Night’. And in the acoustic medley for the encore, there was even a snatch of his one genuine hit ‘This Is Not America’, the song he recorded with David Bowie.
If you're in any doubt about his abilities, just check out this short clip promoting the 2020 tour.
His latest band, of quite a different generation to Metheny himself, are energetic and certainly accomplished in their own right, with Simcock proving to be a powerful and nimble-fingered piano player. It was fitting to see his strong performance in the week we lost the great McCoy Tyner.
I was also especially struck with upright bassist Linda Oh, who showed once again how women have come to the fore as bass players in recent years. I’m thinking Esperanza Spalding, Tal Wilkenfeld and Rhonda Smith, in particular. Linda was a delightful presence on the stage and added a particular lyricism on the bass during the more reflective pieces.
Sanchez has a percussive approach to the drums; he's a kind of instinctual, reactive drummer in the style of Brian Blade. Impressive. Anyone who has seen the movie Birdman may recall the soundtrack, which was composed and played by Sanchez.
Towards the end of the show, Metheny duetted with each member of the band in turn. He and Sanchez were the last of the duets and began by playing the Metheny tune Question and Answer. But the tune soon became less recognisable as they built up a dissonant crescendo of sound - Metheny playing his guitar synth in a frenzy and Sanchez at the end scraping the edge of his cymbals. It was exciting to watch, but would certainly have freaked out some of the more conservative members of the audience.
Listening to the set, I realised I have a lot more Pat Metheny on various media than I thought, including some on cassette that I haven't listened to for years. These include a wonderful album called 'Beyond The Missouri Sky' recorded in New York in 1996 with bassist Charlie Haden.
Metheny grew up in Missouri and his more reflective acoustic music, of which this is a perfect example, is inspired by the remote and often desolate landscapes of that part of America.
The album with Haden also includes the theme music from the movie Cinema Paradiso.
My other favourite of the ECM era is the Pat Metheny/Lyle Mays album As Falls Wichita, So Falls Wichita Falls. It features the song September 15th, which pays tribute to one of their heroes, Bill Evans. It's an almost meditative album, full of atmosphere and reflection, while also managing to be uplifting.
Other regulars from the CD era were Imaginary Day and the live album, The Road To You. The song 'Have You Heard' from that album drew one of the biggest cheers of the night from the Auckland audience. The DVD We Live Here mirrors the material on The Road To You and gives a good illustration of the Pat Metheny Group in the mid 1990s, when they were probably at the height of their popularity.
The other DVD in the collection pictured above is of Joni Mitchell's Shadows and Light tour in 1980, which featured Metheny and Mays alongside Jaco Pastorius, Don Alias on drums and Michael Brecker on saxophone. Metheny plays a fittingly ethereal solo on Joni's song Amelia.
Here's another live beauty - The Gathering Sky, which features a solo by drummer Antonio Sanchez.
In this interview, Metheny talks fondly of working with Bowie.