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T Lee Brown-Burning Tarot's avatar

Trapping the celebratory, buzzing insect of improvisation in amber can be rewarding. It's just important not to mistake that maplet for the territory it attempts to cover (hey, i wonder how many random metaphors can I throw at you in one graf?).

One of my primary teachers in the art of improv was the percussionist Mike Mahaffay, a.k.a. Robert Mike Mahaffay, may he rest in infinitely groovy peace. The incredible openness yet demand for art that be brought to each session were amazing. Over the years, I played with him numerous times in our weird little Portland experimental world: Black Orchid, Tres Gone, The Gone Orchestra, with members of Smegma, Soriah, Three Leg Torso, etc..... often at fun or off-the-wall venues like Voodoo Doughnuts or improvising a live soundtrack to Man Ray films for TV and KBOO radio. Very fun stuff.

Annnnyway: Mikey liked to record most sessions in some form (the options were limited early on). As recording and playing-back became easier with technology, he always wanted to listen to a jam right after we'd finished. I found this awful and refused. For me, it's good to do some things utterly sans documentation; it can also be good to take the documentation but not fuck with it for a while. Just leave the thing alone so you can savor the magic of whatever experience it was, a magic untainted by your post-performance anxieties or critical faculties.

That said, Mike was a cannabis-fueled musical genius, whereas I was more of a tobacco-chainsmoking interdisciplinary tourist, so hey, maybe his approach was just plain better.

A few links Mike's wonderful spirit are below. Guess I should upload more of our music together, bands like Black Orchid and Kings on Straw Mats, because they don't appear to be on the interwebz at present!

* https://www.amazon.com/CDs-Vinyl-Robert-Mike-Mahaffay/s?rh=n%3A5174%2Cp_32%3ARobert+Mike+Mahaffay

* https://soundcloud.com/mahaffays-musical-archiv

* https://jaxsta.com/release/99365061-6bbd-444b-8b91-9886355a5cde/52358f5d-0932-491f-9027-6572b9e0f82f/overview

* https://www.tiktok.com/music/Night-Fishing-6858860430136199169

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Brian James's avatar

This is great “ Kinda sad-sack elven-hippie raga-blues stuff, sometimes lovely and sometimes tedious. Once in a while I turn on the electronic shruti box for full sandalwood misterioso.” Sounds a lot like my guitar practice these past few years, on the other end of decades of music school, rock bands, noise combos (I got to play with Rhys Chatham once, immortalized on one of his Guitar Trio albums). It’d be fun to exchange licks some time...I’ve been dreaming of an online sharing community of musical meditators but alas, I’m all Zoomed out.

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