relaxing to chase

Today is my weekly visit with Keith. I’ve been meaning to bring in my own ‘reflective/meditative’ music for awhile and today I finally dug out some CD’s to bring in. Of course, trying to pick meditative music from my eclectic collection is tough. I finally found a CD by Nathan Kuhlman – all piano and then I grabbed Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony doing a little Prokofiev Romeo and Juliet action. That should be good to relax to.

In the midst of my search I found one of my favorite bands whom I haven’t listened to for awhile. Chase. *Ahhhh.* Chase is a killer jazz/rock band from the 70’s, 4 of whom died in a plane crash, including the founder. The band features four awesome trumpets headed up by Bill Chase – a man who can just wail!

I first heard of Chase when I was student teaching in Redfield, SD. One of the teachers I was working with said he had met Bill Chase when Chase had come to play at NSU back in the early 70’s. He said Bill had a permanent callus on his upper lip from playing so much. Amazing.

The most incredible song that grabbed me is called “Invitation to a River” – it’s a 5 part song (it actually has sections like a symphony or other orchestral piece) all meshed together to tell an incredible story of love, passion, regret, and death. You have to really listen to the words on this one. But more than the words, the music tells the story. I’ve always loved instrumental music for being able to convey emotions that words/singers can’t always pull off (and I’m a singer!). A picture’s worth a thousand words, they say, but music can tell a million (I say). The 4^th ‘movement’ of 'Invitation to a River' is called “Reflections”…the story sets it up that the man is standing at the river bed and contemplating his life and relationship with the woman/women he loves who have broken his heart. There are no words here but Bill plays out the pain and turmoil while he actually plays with his echo – an incredible display of the turmoil and mess that a person can go through with relationships. It sends chills up my spine every time. Goosebumps galore. If you haven’t heard Chase, I highly recommend them.