Music that is able to move through our conscious listening experience and into the realm of the subconscious is not always a completely pleasureable experience.
Nor should it be. The beauty of truth is not in it's prettiness; but rather in it's honest depiction of perception. And because every person's self-perception is unique, any communication that is able to transcend the conscious experience will as such be interpreted uniquely.
Perhaps most fascinating is the fact that we likely cannot control our unconscious reactions to this communication. Our gut reactions can range from euphoria to revulsion. Either is OK. And if we are lucky enough to experience both ends of this spectrum during the communication, then perhaps, later, when we ponder and reflect what it was that happened to us, we can, if for nothing else, acknowledge that we were a part of a shared experience.
TRIO SANGHA and the DUO-ECLECTIC both attempted this sort of communication last Friday, November 14. Knowing Dhiren, I booked TRIO SANGHA, more so for my own selfish desires of what I was hoping would be a 'cool' art scene at Table Ten than for what might specifically work at Table Ten, I added Dave Goldberg's and Duane Allen's DUO ECCLECTIC to follow the TRIO SANGHA because it seemed the perfect opportunity to showcase Dave and Duane's pet experimental musical project that after a year of 'now and then' was never really embraced by the audience's listening as much as by myself and my own musical tastes.
As an aside, I've learned over the past year of booking music, that the type of music booked is a reflection of the venue's clientele as much as it is of the person doing the booking. A reflection provides insight but by definition is an afterthought. One cannot change the reflection unless one changes the 'object' (or the environment) being reflected in some manner. If the person doing the booking of the music does not understand the audience that naturally comes to the venue, the venue will not succeed. This does not mean that the audience can change and transform over time, because it can; but it does mean that the person doing the booking has to maintain a balance between his or her own personal tastes and desires with that of what works within the specific venue (both in terms of space, environment, audience and collective tastes).
I knew TRIO SANGHA was going to be an experiment of sorts. The name itself sounds foreign and somewhat mystical. There's this Eastern quality (SANGHA) that is fused with the Western (TRIO). We all know that TRIO means three, but most of us have no idea what SANGHA means, although we all unconsciously have ideas. It sounded ancient to me. Buddhist or Hindu or of some religious connotation. The word was intriguing. I felt the music would be a journey of sorts. Wether that journey would work at Table Ten or not, I did not know. I did know that I was taking a risk. Knowing Dhiren, even as briefly as I have, I felt it a good risk ... a risk that in the least would stimulate some creative thought, even if only in a few. And Dhiren told me he'd pack the place. People booking music like to hear those words, because in the end, the success of the booker is determined by the sales reports at the end of the evening.
Because Dhiren suggested that a lot of people would come to see them and have dinner, I thought this the perfect opportunity to have them start early (7pm) and end at 10. I could then have the DU-ECLECTIC follow them at 10:30; and, with an audience in attendence who appreciates music that takes risks, I thought, "well, if ever the DUO has a shot at being heard by a receptive audience, here it is."
So What happened?
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