Playing Slow and Pretty

Fast Food, Fast Cars, Instant Information and ... Fast Music.

How many times can you remember hearing a song that was truly a "ballad"?
Was it written in the last 10 years?
How about the past 20?

Everything has sped up in our society; and music is no exception.
Everyone wants to hear the latest man-child that can play cleanly at a thousand miles an hour...thats what makes a prodigy, isn't it?

If you listen to the past giants, they certainly could play fast, but they also knew how to play slow, and did it quite often. In the 60's we had great whole records of just ballads; John Coltrane/Johnny Hartmann, Dexter Gordon just to name a few of the the memorable ones.

The missing part about this, is that speed is relative; it works in contrasts. I can remember going to a concert of a well-known guitarist. He opened with a burning tune, wow. The next tune he played was fast too, and the next one was medium-fast- where did the edge go? It really lost my interest, and by the forth tune, I was outta there.

While there is no way keep our society from moving rapidly; there is a desperate need for balance;
Always make a place for Playing Slow and Pretty.