A city with unexplained insomnia.
The man whose nose was red from drink and large from age, his pink rimmed eyes set deep in tired sockets waited for the number 24 bus wondering
"Did the bus driver toss all night too? Something's gone awry-
world at the edge
of the edge
of the edge
looking down a crevice I am
on a ledge
the ledge
the ledge of the edge
about to fall
into one enormous collective sleep
of desperate sleepers.
I will skip the bus
and walk."
A gum wrapper on the sidewalk caught his eye. He picked it up to examine more closely while seeming to enjoy a brief conversation with a volleyball net before bending over to pick up an empty can as he talked to the tail pipe of a Toyota truck then stood up conversing with the air as he continued his stroll. There in a shrub, the corner of a bit of army green paper fluttered and called out "I'm stuck in this bush!" as it tried to escape the snag of twigs holding it captive. The man whose nose was red from drink and large from age gently tugged on the paper freeing it from it's bushy captor, finding it was a $10 bill. He put the crumpled bill into his fist and shook it at the sky in a wild gesture of joy and astonishment, pink eyes filling with salty water and rolling down his rough weathered cheeks making his face shinny with tears.
Hello friends and readers. What has this to do with Suzi Stern's music news you may ask? I'm in LA experiencing a wonderful new chapter of observation and self discovery. Just felt like sharing an observation. They are everywhere. I'm enjoying filling the well so to speak, and writing things down in words and music. I'm meeting musicians in so many different fields of composition that it humbles me. I recently heard a lecture and met a remarkable composer / arranger named Nan Schwartz. The depth of her arranging skills blew my mind and I had never even heard of this brilliant and important artist. I plan to take a few months to continue exploring, observing, studying, re-evaluating and soaking up what I am so fortunate to have around me here in LA before presenting my own new creations. It's difficult for me to pause, breathe and trust that the well will indeed fill up.
Thank you for letting me share my musings with you!
Musically Yours,
Suzi
