plerosis.com

Back in the day, ’round the time I was living with the Olson family and studying theology, some friends (Bryan, David, JG, Damon, myself, who else?) would gather in the three season room up on the second floor of the Olson home (usually with a gallon jug of Carlo Rossi to pass around) and listen to music together. We would go round robin, taking turns playing a track each, whatever we wanted. No talking, except to preface the tune with a comment or to talk about it after listening. The aural feasts were sumptuous, verdant, diverse. We spent a lot of time in record stores in that era, picking up shite-loads of vinyl. Landfill Records on University Ave in St. Paul housed thousands of LPs of every conceivable genre. At 50 cents each, there was no excuse for restraint. We piled it on. Gospel and old soul were staples (anything with five or six guys standing around under some trees or in a field wearing matching suits with huge lapels was sure bet). The pickings were ripe and we got fat with music. Listening together, we created a shared world that turned into playing music together. And then living together in order to listen to and play music almost all the time. The band. The band house. The Chiefs. And everything after.

Years later, the music is back. A feast was called. A Monday night at the Powderhorn Palace. Four people showed and one dog. Three of the originals (David, JG, myself), Mary (who is herself a walking music feast), and Annabelle (who enjoys music but was mostly there for snuggling). In this digital age, it was more about the ipods than the vinyl, but we did serve up plenty of vinyl. It was by turns glorious, hilarious, moving, revelatory… The collective attention of all those ears, each having spent years listening and learning how to listen to music, focused on song after song. We heard it together. We felt it together. It’s a deep kind of sharing, just listening. Music is the most immediate, natural, and generative language of our emotional lives. Listening together, we share a depth of human being that has not been cheapened by conceptual delineation. It’s full and immediate and knowing, like nature. Coming out of this particular feast, I felt as though I had been on a journey with three other people (and one dog) to emotional/spiritual worlds I often visit alone, but rarely in community. A deeply satisfying experience, sharing a feast of music.

Here is what we listened to.

McCoy Tyner - A Prayer For My Family (Mary)
The Rod Levitt Orchestra - El General (Dave)
Kanye West - Addiction (JG)
P.O.S. - Savion Glover (Nate)
CSS - Let’s Make Love and Listen to Death From Above (Mary)
The Persuaders - Love Gonna Pack Up and Walk Out (Dave)
Black Flag - Police Story (JG)
The Dirty Projectors - Police Story (JG)
Sarah Vaughn - What Kind of Fool Am I? (Nate)
Bon Iver - Lump Sum (Mary)
Caetano Veloso e Gilberto Gil - Aquarela do Brasil (Dave)
Tammy Wynette - Your Good Girl Is Gonna Go Bad (JG)
The Beatles - She Said, She Said (Nate)
Erykah Badu - Me (Mary)
Tyrone Davis - Turn Back The Hands of Time (Dave)
Mystery Artist - Collage (JG)
Geto Boyz- Crooked Officer (Nate)
Mavis Staples - Down In Mississippi (Mary)
Darrell Banks - Never Alone (Dave)
TV On The Radio - Family Tree (JG)
Radiohead - Let Down (Nate)
Antony & The Johnsons - Another World (Mary)
Jerry Butler - Yes, My Goodness, Yes (Dave)
A Medley of Telephone Messages Sent to JG
    a) Damon - Fred Willard
    b) Baer - Television On
    c) Baer - Varsity Theater
The Swan Silvertones - My Rock (Nate)
Brother Ali - Daylight (Mary)
Troy Ramey and The Soul Searchers- Picken’ ‘em Up and Layin’ ‘em Down (Dave)
Bonnie Prince Billie - Strange Form of Life (JG)
Jason Moran - Artists Ought To Be Writing (Nate)
Cat Power - Silver Stallion (Mary)
Curtis Mayfield - This Love Is Sweet (Dave)

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