Farewell to Kofi Awoonor

I was just just reading this sad story,

Ghana mourns loss of celebrated poet Kofi Awoonor slain in Kenya mall attack

about Ghanain poet, Kofi Awoonor, one of the unfortunates murdered in the latest round of senseless butchery in Nairobi, Kenya. I find it somehow life-affirming that Ghanaian heads of state actually made time to greet his casket at the airport. Americans persist in the comic delusion that we are some kind of "advanced" society. In Ghana they actually pay attention when a poet dies....


Across A New Dawn (excerpt from one of Awoonor's last poems)
...
But who says our time is up
that the box maker and the digger
are in conference
or that the preachers have aired their robes
and the choir and the drummers
are in rehearsal?

No; where the worm eats
a grain grows.
the consultant deities
have measured the time
with long winded
arguments of eternity

And death, when he comes
to the door with his own
inimitable calling card
shall find a homestead
resurrected with laughter and dance
and the festival of the meat
of the young lamb and the red porridge
of the new corn
...

Brings to mind the African proverb, "When death finds you, let it find you alive."

Read the full poem here.

Hopkins Marquis Update -- UPS Screws the Pooch

So, after UPS held my beautiful, handmade, one-of-a-kind, $8500 Hopkins Marquis guitar hostage for 12 days* and failed to deliver it on 3 occasions, I finally managed to pick it up from their Downtown LA facility (not without more strife of course). And guess what? It is severely damaged! Hooray for UPS!!!

See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8i9Yrhm-wwM

I will never do business of any kind again with UPS and I strongly caution anyone shipping anything from Canada to USE A DIFFERENT CARRIER. I have never experienced anything like the utterly idiotic, totally unnecessary contortions that they forced upon me. I only hope that I live long enough to see the demise of this useless institution.

Hopkins Marquis update

It's almost here! I heard from Canadian luthier Peter Hopkins today and the guitar he is making for me is only a couple of weeks from delivery. Oh man, I've been anticipating this for 18+ months. Will post pictures shortly.

Thought for the Day

Just came upon this tidbit which I originally blogged back in 2007...

In a world that is simultaneously generating and devouring its own ugliness, the greatest act of defiance, of affirmation, is the creation of something beautiful.

Still words to live by.

It's Here - The New CD Is In!

Finally got the CDs back from the duplicator and am quite happy with the results. Looks good, sounds good. Now I feel unburdened and free to move on to the next project, which is... promoting the CD!

Phil Lewis Quartet CD - Status Update

As I write this, the new record is in the mastering stage. As you probably know, mastering is last stage of the production process before duplication. With any luck, we're hopeful that the record will (finally) be ready for duplication within the next couple of weeks. Which means that if all goes as planned (it could happen...), the CD should be available sometime in March. So keep your fingers crossed and stay tuned for details.



I sincerely apologize for the lengthy gestation period and want to thank you all for your contributions, support, good humor, and patience. =PL

Why Make Music?

During my morning drive I was listening to the second Michael Meade CD, The Light Inside Dark Times. Meade talks about how in dark times we need to move closer to the soul at the center of our being; that as the culture comes apart around us it becomes necessary for each of us to become more centered. He points out that most arts and spiritual practices are designed to do just that. He uses the spinning of a pot as an example. The potter, he says, has to be centered in himself in order for the pot to stay centered on the wheel. Otherwise the pot comes out uneven. What's more, he adds, is this is the actual purpose of spiritual and artistic practice, and it's true of dance, music, painting, poetry, etc. The purpose of these activities is not to achieve status, riches, or acclaim. It is, simply, to center ourselves.

Suddenly the necessity of making music became very clear: The meaning of the activity is not "out there" --  as in getting across to an audience (although that may be a side benefit). The meaning is "in here," and not in the tired old Romantic notion of "self expression." It's "in here" as in moving closer to the center. Making music is a form of meditation and that is the only real and genuine reason for doing it. It centers us, and when we move closer to the healing soul we become a healing agent in the world. If we happen to do that in the presence of others, they cannot help but respond. And if we do it alone, we still carry that healing into world, whether or not we are consciously aware of it. The fact is that it's so simple to do, to connect with the center, all that is necessary is to breathe.