tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7165042969395808380.post3979393953178742168..comments2012-12-05T05:39:42.901-05:00Comments on THAT MORNING THING: other sides of fencesFast Forwardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12147707866371856096noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7165042969395808380.post-39006670496387310082011-11-22T08:55:26.916-05:002011-11-22T08:55:26.916-05:00As a vocalist, composer and performer, I have been...As a vocalist, composer and performer, I have been asked to do many things but I've never been asked to "count". For me this piece "That Morning Thing" speaks to the power of memory, the experience of fragmentation and the ephemeral nature of the moment. This piece is challenging for the performer and the audience because it asks us to embody discomfort. It asks us to bear witness, to 'not know' and to hopefully transcend. <br /><br />Mr. Ashley would say to me in rehearsals "Sing the numbers, Imani". Then finally during a moment while "Blue" Gene Tyranny was playing and pushing against the rhythm and I was counting, an understanding took place almost like a transmission and I began to "sing the numbers". 12_34_12_34_. <br /><br />After this revelatory experience of performing in "That Morning Thing", I walk away with a deeper understanding of my own process as a vocalist and composer. Buddha says "You can not travel the path until you have become the path itself." While performing Mr. Ashley's compositions, I tried to become the numbers, and in that becoming, I tried to translate to the listener the nuance of my emotional landscape as each moment flowed to the next. 12_3, 12_3, 12_3. I will never count the same. Namaste, Robert Ashley. Namaste.~Imani UzuriImani Uzurihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05449514403849153870noreply@blogger.com