Soul Food

On February 13, Geo and I attended the Northeast Organic Farmers’ Association (NOFA) winter conference. Farmers we are not. However, Geo is interested in the locavore scene here in Vermont, and I am interested in learning new gardening practices. Living in a most rural state, we need to be informed about agriculture.

Keynote speaker LaDonna Redmond of Chicago was worth the price of admission. Unable to find real food in urban supermarkets for her child with multiple allergies, she set forth on a mission of organizing her inner city neighborhood to grow organic veggies. She promotes a sustainable, organic, urban, and local food system that has soul. The food that is grown nourishes not just the body, but also the soul. Food actually becomes a by-product because what is really grown is community. It’s about knowing the people who grow your food, how that food is grown, how it's prepared, and with whom you share it.

She went on to say that the Hippies (who began the back-to-the-land movement) have a lot in common with the Hip-Hop Generation. Both are counter-cultural and anti-establishment, as is sustainable, local and organic agriculture. What she calls the soul-food system is about building community. Community needs to happen in urban areas as well as rural. Through soul-food, the Hippies and Hip-Hop Generation may be able to meet on common ground.

One of the workshops I attended was presented by Lee Reich on weedless no-till gardening. He advises using wet newspapers (4 pages thick) spread out over soil or grass, covering them with an inch or two of compost, and planting seeds directly into the compost. They will take root and grow through the newspaper. The grass or weeds below the newspaper, with no light and air, will smother and die. So this is my plan for my 5 packets of sunflower seeds. I’m collecting newspapers now and will be ready to plant in Spring. This I will do without digging up the lawn in the backyard. Reports to follow.     

#5, Check!

Jenn challenged me to list 50 things I'd like to do during 2010, and DO them. I took up the challenge. Saturday I checked off #5: See an opera.

Verdi's Simon Boccanegra was performed live at the NY Met, starring none other than Placido Domingo. This performance was broadcast in HD, as it was happening, in select theaters across the U.S., including one in South Burlington. I was there. It was fabulous.

Besides focussing on all the action, the camera took us into the orchestra pit, backstage as the sets were being changed, and even into the audience. I could see notes on the musicians' sheet music, and even beads of sweat on the performers. I especially liked seeing all the detail on the costumes. And, yes, there were subtitles for the Italian lyrics.

I'd recommend this experience for anyone who loves music, even if unfamiliar with opera (like me). I'm already planning to see Rosssini's Armida on May 1st.

Someone famous once said, opera has it all - passion, violence, romance, vengeance, murder - what's not to like?

Emotionality

Jazz vibraphonist Stefon Harris is performing in Burlington. Last night he led a workshop on the art of listening. Of course, I had to be there.    

Stefon defines music as the science of organizing sound and silence into emotion. The workshop was about experiencing music emotionally. Sitting at the piano, he directed us to close our eyes, then to experience and demonstrate the emotion our ears were hearing. One time he changed just one note in the chord, and the sound - and the emotion - changed noticeably. 

When our group was having difficulty demonstrating an appropriate emotional response, he asked us clench our fists, or open and raise our arms, just to feel if if the physical response was in tune with what we were hearing. Then we would sense if it was right or not. This worked. He said the body naturally knows how to respond to emotions.

  

When I hear a performance, I may walk away impressed with the technique and virtuosity of the musicians. Now I will focus on how I am feeling as the musicians are recreating and communicating emotions musically.

As Stefon said, when he plays, if we’re not feeling it, he is not doing his job. If we come to a performance filled with the distractions and anxieties of the day, he says, let the music take you away. That’s the beauty of it.

I am eager to practice my new listening skills. It won’t be long. We’re hearing Stefon Harris play the marimba and vibraphone tonight at the Flynn, along with the Imani Winds.