Remember how I was all optimistic about our jazz festival in my post yesterday?
About that.
We got our recordings back from the judges and listened to them...four times. No bueno.
One of the few times I glanced around the room (assuming the typical hanging your head in shame stance accompanied with grim and utter defeat), I could see the disappointment etched clearly on my classmates's faces. They knew what was up. They knew we sounded like crap. That's not how we're supposed to sound. Not this group of kids.
I told you guys yesterday that our jazz groups were never our strong suit; they never have been. They've never been bad, but they've never been especially spectacular like some of the other groups we heard on Friday. We've always had tremendous success with our concert and marching bands. We in this 'generation', (for lack of a better word) of students have been very fortunate in not having to experience a truly bad performance, one with too many regrets to count from every single person. Sure, every performance, you may have something you need to work on for the next time, and those precious few performances where you felt you gave your 110% and have no regrets whatsoever.
But you can still have those performances where you just wish you could do the whole thing over again. Looking around, I could see thoughts going through people's heads, behind their eyes, questioning themselves about why they didn't do better as the judges' voices cut through our unintentionally developed egos. We were so accustomed to doing well all the time that the rules we'd come to live by had, for one moment, been taken for granted, and it bit us in the ass.
I'm very fortunate to be surrounded by a group of highly talented musicians. I really am. But talent doesn't always cut it. Putting out a worthwhile product takes focus, ownership, committment, and energy. Not a single one of those things can ever be compromised.
We may not have entirely deserved all of the comments we received. but we sure needed them.
After a few minutes of silence, we'd come to the collective conclusion to do better, as ambiguous as that sounds...though sometimes it's all you need. We discussed ways to improve our performance in the long run.
Apologies were made all around. Everybody had something they needed to work on (even me). No one person is to blame, though. It's a group effort. All the time. One band, one sound.
Books read: 4
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