Bill Bruford's Earthworks - The Shadow Of A Doubt (Footloose in NYC, 30th May 2001)

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Feels like I’m assembling a heavy 100-plus song set list for this Channel. It reminds me of leading bands, and assembling music for the nightly concert. How much to change? How much to re-order, refresh, omit or add? What do these people in Cape Town, Cincinnati or Osaka want? Need to keep myself, the band and the audience (in no particular order) all happy within a right balance of songs, tempi and, sometimes, keys.

Here I have three great co-performers: Patrick Clahar (soprano sax.), Steve Hamilton (piano), and Mark Hodgson (bass). In most bands the side musician need only extend a right hand for the itinerary and a left hand for the money at the end – there ends his or her responsibility. But a good leader will manage to get a lot more out of the individual than that. Peak performances, a lot of laughing, a sense of emotional involvement in the music - especially if the musician has been involved in the creation of its basic text, the apocryphal four bars of music on the back of a cigarette pack from which emerge seven minutes of blistering invention. All these things are key to the employee’s well-being.

Leadership is increasingly interpreted as a process rather than a possession held by someone; less about influencing others to do what the leader wants, more about helping a community to make meaning in its specific context. To get the best out of his or her people, the leader needs to transform their values, preferences and aspirations from self-interest to collective interest. He or she will clearly depict shared goals, stir the imagination and generate thoughts and insights. In music leadership, individualised consideration involves giving personal attention to band-mates who seem neglected, treating each individually, and helping each individual get what he or she wants. Miles Davis exemplifies all this when he allegedly asserted that: “I don’t lead musicians, man. They lead me. I listen to them to learn what they can do best”.

I think and hope that all the fifteen or so (British) guys that went through Earthworks got as much or more out of it as I did working with them.

If you’re interested in music leadership, I’ve written in more depth here:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/352003629_Leadership_The_View_from_behind_the_Kit#fullTextFileContent

#billbruford #tamadrums #drummer #earthworks #kingcrimson #paistecymbals #jazzdrummer

Видео Bill Bruford's Earthworks - The Shadow Of A Doubt (Footloose in NYC, 30th May 2001) канала Bill Bruford