The motion of the Way is to return;
The use of the Way is to accept;
All things come from the Way,
And the Way comes from nothing.
(tao te ching)
Rush hour on the Tobin Bridge: a less than ideal situation. However the stop and go traffic on a Wednesday afternoon seems a blessing, because it gives me ample time to make conversation with renown ethnomusicologist Charlie Keil.
Despite his reputation for being a radical within the field of music and politics, his manner is soft-spoken, subdued. He is telling be about one of the last masters theses he advised. “It was about singing in the shower,” he says with a surprising and profound seriousness. Of the six or so individuals who were interviewed about shower singing, two of them had recently stopped because someone had told them it was a bad thing to do, or had showed a negative reaction. “We are such sensitive individuals, we are so quick to respond to negative feedback,” he explains. I too, looked back at when I quit high school band because of a mean band teacher, whose strictness and adherence to form cramped my groove, as it were.
This thought remains with me as we make our way to Zumix in East Boston, a community music organization for kids to learn instrumental, DJ, and radio skills. A non-assuming stucco building, Zumix would be easy to miss were it not for the constant inviting music coming from its doors. The walls are covered in large hip-hop graffiti paintings done by the students, who are scattered around the building individuals in their celebration of music. The workshop that Charlie is here to hold will bring these individuals together, to create a collective sound and movement.
As we gather in a circle and Charlie begins to do his thing - grooving collectively with simple beats and rhythms - the kids are hesitant to join in, to enjoy. Self conscious smiles, they eye each other shyly - is this cool enough for me to enjoy? they say with their glances. There is an easy kind of inhibition, and the excitement is at the tip of our fingers. As we begin our hesitant groove, Charlie remarks “Wow, you guys are great! Look a you, you don’t even need me. Goodbye!” He jokingly waves and begins to walk out of the room. Everyone laughs, and the collective energy of the room relaxes. Despite the adolescent need to be cool, we begin to forget our selves as individuals. We are now a collective; a single organism grooving together, communicating through music.
From nothing, we have become a sonic motion. For a moment I rest in this motion, accepting the noise of shakers and bells, horns and drums that we are playing to create a single song; then I return to the rhythm of the single bell that I am hitting - ding - dong dong dong - ding - dong dong dong dong,
And again, Charlie remarks on the talent in us all, and the room smiles. In this moment I think of the way of Charlie Keil, of his quiet and radical ability to take all of us inhibited shower singers and with a gentle word or two, transform us into motion, into sound, into joy.