Max Perkoff: Blog

"It is not our job to finish the work, but it is our job to carry it on." So says an old Jewish Proverb, one my baba (grandmother) told me on a walk in San Francisco. I was 19 and worried about the fate of the Earth. She put her hand on me and with deep compassion reminded me not to take the weight of the whole world onto my shoulders. I've just felt her hand again (she passed away in 1986) while practicing trombone. All my life I've been looking for ways to use the music in me to help, to carry on the work of Tikkun Olam, Hebrew for repair and/or healing of the world. To do my part. I do accept that the teaching and some of my performing life has helped in that regard, as do continued acts of Tzedakah, Charity. Now the idea has finally settled in my mind and heart: I'm going to form a partnership with an Arab and/or Palestinian musician(s) in order to fuse our music in ways I pray Jews and Arabs will one day do in their own lives. Many are, and many have, but there's still a shortage [...]

So tonight I played a nice gig with vocalist Jack Pollard, bassist Kurt Ribak, & drummer Ranzell Merrit. We were swingin' and havin' fun. Early in the first set, Kurt noticed we were on fire - literally, with smoke and everything! The large plant next to us had a hot halogen light with one of our bags on top of it. Fire. It's cool, no flames. Jack pulled the bag, the staff turned off the light. We kept playing...

Playing music is so very much in the mind. All the years of preparation, and continued learning. Physical skill, memorized patterns of melody, harmony, song structure. Yet in order to swing, to play together in a groove, one needs to let go of that and listen, feel, breathe. I'm at my best when unaware of the Ego. I tried playing a whole solo with my eyes closed, ears wide open. Made it for quite a while, more than a chorus. Felt good. Keith Jarrett is one of my musical heroes. I'd like to try a concert like that sometime - no preparation other than the lifetime [...]

Well now, this could be a dissertation or just a quick blog, but here goes! I do a lot of thinking about the business. Mostly I think about how to make it work for me, how to increase the frequency of gigs and of musically satisfying experiences. Things have changed over the 31 years since my first paying gig. That was a private party in Mill Valley, trio with saxophonist Scott Barnhill & bassist Steve Weber. We made $20 each. In 1978, for teenagers, that was quite good. Today while my gigs pay more, it doesn't add up to a whole lot more once you adjust for inflation. But the money is not - cannot be the primary concern for a jazz musician. I do this because I love it, and because I feel drawn to do it. I still feel there's a lot I want to "say" through music.

So do I make a living being a jazz musician? I make a life. I feel very fortunate to be able to make music & work with a number of extremely talented artists. The time we live in - and the place, San Francisco Bay [...]