This is Derek Trucks and his band playing “I Wish I Knew” –  recorded live at the 29th Detroit International Jazz Festival, September 1, 2008.

The full title of the song is “I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free”.

I wish I knew how it would feel to be free
I wish I could break all the chains holding me
I wish I could say all the things that I should say …

The song was written by Dr. Billy Taylor (along with Dick Dallas?) back in 1954. It was originally recorded by Nina Simone in 1967 on her Silk and Soul album. Billy Taylor also recorded his own instrumental version back in 1967. He said that he wrote the song (perhaps his best known composition) for his daughter Kim, describing it as a very spiritual song.

“I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free” was used as a theme song on the BBC, a theme song for the 2004 Olympics, as music for a Coca-Cola commercial, and also served as an anthem for the civil-rights movement.

The video quality (on this youtube video) is not that great, but I think it’s the perfect way to close out this labor day weekend I Love Detroit series, and as Mike Mattison sings at the end of the video — Everyone Should Be Free!

It’s just like Donald Miller said in Blue Like Jazz: “jazz music was invented by the first generation out of slavery…  it is very hard to put on paper; it is so much more a language of the soul … It is a music birthed out of freedom.”

View and download larger version on Flickr Photo

This is Derek Trucks and his band playing at the Detroit 2008 Jazz  Festival with the Millender Center in the background. Derek first impressed the  music industry playing guitar as an 11 year old child prodigy. By age 12 we was playing professionally and touring.

Billy Holiday Review Featuring Sky Covington on Flickr

Sky Covington sings at Pontiac, Michigan Arts, Beats, and Eats Festival on August 31, 2008.  Sky typically performs the songs of Billy Holiday (1915-1959), who was an American jazz singer and song writer. Billy Holiday is perhaps best remembered for song, Lady Sings the Blues, which has become a jazz standard.

You can see more photos by following Cherie S’s  photostream on Flickr.

Mr. Travelin Blues - A popular street musician in Detroit

Here’s a photo I took of Mr. Travelin’ Blues –May 9th, 2008.

Here’s a short video from Mr. Travelin Blues of Detroit.

I love Detroit. I love the people of Detroit… and I love Mr. Travelin Blues from Detroit … the other day we stood and talked for a while by the SMART bus stop near St. Andrews Hall.  A lot of days you can find him downtown (playing his guitar and singing the blues) in Greek Town, near Pegasus, the new Greek Town Hotel, or old St. Mary’s church.

Blue Like Jazz - Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality.

Context is important for understanding anything.  You have to get yourself into the Portland, Oregon  ( Peace and Love ) – Blue Like Jazz mood to enjoy the book. But Donald Miller helps you do  that quite nicely. Donald is a story teller, and Blue Like Jazz is a bunch of stories from Donald’s life. Many of the stories take place around Portland, Oregon, or at Reed College. Reed College was mentioned in Princeton Review as the college where students are most likely to ignore God. (p. 37) Miller says “it (Reed) is a godless place, known for existential experimentation of all sorts.” “Many of the (Reed) students hated the very idea of God, and yet they cared about people more than I did.” (p.42)

As I mentioned in part 1 of my Blue Like Jazz book review, this book was bouncing around in my house for several years before I picked it up. Three of my daughters read it, and it went through a rain storm (or some kind of baptism) with Talitha, who dried it off with a hair drier, so it was already “quite loved” by the time I picked it up. Yeah, I know I’m late coming to the party — writing this review after hundreds of reviews have already been written. (Amazon had over 447 customer reviews last time I checked.)

My friend Joe Thorn (from Chicago) wrote about Blue Like Jazz back in 2006 — in a report about Mark Coppenger’s 11 negative points about the book.

Joel Comm (from Denver) said “What a fantastic read!” in his book review back in 2005.  Joel said Miller’s “anecdotes are often quite funny and poignant.”

Back to Portland…

My friend Bob said “Portland is filled with hippies that never grew up.” Actually, I think the hippies grew up and their kids live in Portland today (with that same 70′s hippie attitude). Bob seemed angry that his daughter moved out to Portland and  didn’t even have a job lined up. “How can you drive all the way across country, just because you like the coffee shops in Portland?”, Bob grumbled. “She didn’t even have a job… well she did find a good job later on…” Bob said that Portland is way more laid back then Detroit, and there are lot’s of people who just “hang out on the streets.”

Portland Oregon Riverplace

In the chapter called: LOVE – How to Really Love Other People. (It’s chapter 18, page 207), the very first sentence confirms my friend Bob’s worst fears. Donald starts off: “When my friend Paul and I lived in the woods, we live with hippies. Well, sort of hippies…. When I was with the hippies I did not feel judged, I felt loved.”

While we are on the topic of love, judgment, and living in the wilderness…

“I love how the Gospels start with John the Baptist eating bugs and baptizing people. The religious people started getting baptized because it had become popular, and John yells at them and calls them snakes.” (p. 203)

My friend Tripp had a different view about Portland, and he was not angry (like my friend Bob). Tripp said that his son Evan moved out to Portland and found a good job as a social worker. He said the slower pace of life in Portland is kind of pleasant. He said Evan goes to church at Imago Dei — the same church Donald Miller goes to. I was kind of happy when I heard this, because Imago Dei sounds like a really interesting church.

There are several things in the book that are a little weird. But the weirdness is just a reflection of the people that inhabit the planet. Donald writes “new-realism essays”. (p. 188) “Imago, our church, is made up of mostly artists, and fruit nuts and none of us have any money…” (p. 189)

My daughter Priscilla flew to Portland recently to visit some friends that she met in South Africa (when she worked in the orphanage). Priscilla is all about friends and travel. She is bringing home some stories and photographs and I’m sure she will tell me what Portland is really like.

I am the problem

Is this a book review or what?

Is this a book review about Blue Like Jazz, or is it just a collection of my stories about Portland, Oregon? Or is it both? I’m trying to write this book review in the style of a “new realism essay.”

Blue Like Jazz flows with mystical ideas …

“You cannot be a Christian without being a mystic. I was talking to a homeless man at a laundry mat recently, and he said that when we reduce Christian spirituality to math, we defile the Holy. I thought that was very beautiful and comforting because I have never been good at math…. I can no more understand the totality of God than the pancake I made for breakfast understands the complexity of me.” (p. 202)

Blue Like Jazz has some practical ideas for the “postmodern church”, and Miller dispels the notion that his book is a new concept for making the gospel cool:

“I don’t think any church has ever been relevant to culture, to the human struggle, unless it believed in Jesus and the power of His gospel. If the supposed new church believes in trendy music and cool web pages, then it is not relevant to culture either.” (p. 111)

I discovered that I am the problem (p. 20), and “nothing is going to change in the Congo until you and I figure out what is wrong with the person in the mirror.” (p. 23)

“What I believe is not what I say I believe; what I believe is what I do.” (p. 110)

The Blues on Flickr – Photo Sharing!.

Blues harmonica done right! It’s fun to listen to. I love music with an aggressive attitude; played by a musician with an opinion of how it should sound. Bluesy music sounds better played by people with a ‘bad attitude’. What am I trying to say? What does that mean? It’s more than just bending a few notes, or adding more cowbell. At the heart of grooveology is improvisation; taking a risk.

I’ve been pondering the mysteries of musical creativity (innovation, improvisation) as it relates to creativity, and risk taking in other domains. This is a huge topic; it won’t fit in one article — but let’s get started and see where it leads.

“Musical improvisers often understand the idiom of one or more musical styles — e.g. blues, rock, folk, jazz — and work within the idiom to express ideas with creativity and originality. When done well, it often elicits gratifying emotional responses from the audience.” – from Improvisation, Wikipedia

When a skilled musician begins to improvise, the results can be amazing. Take a guitar drifting lesson from Andy McKee.

What do you think of Andy McKee’s style? Would you say Andy has an unconventional style? People are fascinated by his musical style because his methodology is new, unique, and innovative. He takes risks. He innovates. He improvises. He abuses the classical guitar methodology so badly, that one can barely recognize it. Andy has an amazing attitude, and a unique opinion about how the guitar should be played.