Philosophical Speculations

This may be the most interesting interview I've ever heard despite the fact that I'm not a musical person. It touches deeply on many of the metaphysical speculations discussed here, especially the relation between the personal and communal, the particular and the whole and how to find harmony. It's long and expands more and more broadly and richly as it develops. I beg you to give it a deep listen.

Lou Gold wrote: ↑Thu Jan 25, 2024 5:22 am This may be the most interesting interview I've ever heard despite the fact that I'm not a musical person. It touches deeply on many of the metaphysical speculations discussed here, especially the relation between the personal and communal, the particular and the whole and how to find harmony. It's long and develops more and more broadly and richly as it develops. I beg you to give it a deep listen.

For those not familiar with JC's performances, here are some examples:

For those who liked the interview this is also worth listening to...

The way JC explains the role of thinking (or not) in his practical musical process seems relevant to much that is discussed abstractly here on the forum. It's also quite interesting to hear him on his childhood and mother as well as the way the neuroscientist relates to it.

Some might appreciate this. I surely do. Have a listen.

I assure you that, at 86 years, I'm not a fan-boy of pop music. I do believe that some folks work with texts, others with sounds or pictures and that there are analogs or parallels among the seemingly separate ways. I find especially fascinating how JC is mainstreaming his creativity, evolving from an isolated home-based kid, to a virtuoso solo performer on-stage and nowadays toward the broader harmonies found in a plausibly novel collective we. The shift is from seeing the collective less as a dominating constraint and more as a field of playful opportunity for all, especially with the new electronic tools.

[personal note: I'm not musical, indeed I have a rather 'tin ear' but at a quite visceral level I come playfully alive just listening to this music. My caregiver says that my vibe beams a playful child under its influence. I just feel pulled into it and the happiness I find in exploring his expanding musical sandbox.]