Five life lessons from jazz
One short description of Nexus:
All around the world, Nexus gathers a room full of people together for a life-opening conversation. We share encounters with new stories, songs, poems and images that speak to our lives, turning us towards and for one another.
That’s what happened on a recent Saturday evening in Verona, Italy, as we gathered folks to reflect together on five lessons from jazz about how to be together in the world. Guitarist Peo Alfonso, bassist Franco Testa and trumpeter J Kyle Gregory played a set of five songs by pianist Bill Evans. Prior to each song Kyle shared a thought that comes from the jazz world, but could also be applied in our everyday world.
Thought #1:
We listen to others as equals, listening to our voice in the context of the whole, then we will understand what is happening.
Thought #2:
We practice connecting the heart to the voice. It’s not that we don’t have the ability to talk authentically about our feelings, the problem is that many of us don’t find non-judgmental spaces in which it feels safe to practice.
Thought #3:
After we have learned to speak from the heart, we only speak when and what our heart sings, what we feel deeply inside, otherwise we wait and remain silent. In many contexts silence is the best contribution to make to the conversation.
Thought #4:
We pay attention to the balance between unity and diversity in the conversation to decide what to bring to the conversation – whether to continue in the same direction, vary slightly, or take a sharp turn. Unity creates cohesion, diversity creates movement. We need both. Our priority is not our individual voice, but the beauty of music.
Thought #5:
Let us enjoy the music that graciously appears in our lives, right in the midst of all the other difficult things happening in and around us.
We invited everyone to hold on to a thought that spoke to them and to have a conversation about it with a friend. Many of those conversations happened right after the musicians finished playing. Others are ongoing…
JKG, October 2023
2 Comments
Submit a Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Recent Posts
Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop
The Korean writer Hwang Bo-Reum has previously written several essay collections. This is her first novel. The book’s protagonist Yeongju did everything she was supposed to do: Go to university, marry a decent man, get a respectable job. Then it all fell apart. Burned out, she abandons her old life, quits her high-flying career and starts to follow her dream. She opens a bookshop.
The Music of Bees by Eileen Garvin
The Music of Bees, debut novel by Eileen Garvin, is a thoughtful, life-affirming story that invites the reader to consider the healing power of community. It is present day rural Oregon; a region dotted with fruit farms as well as other agricultural endeavors.
Films with a Common Theme: Difficulty in Close Relationships
The past week I happened to see three 2025 films that had in common the theme of pains and deficits in close relationships…
And I was there in that living room in Verona on Saturday night to witness these 5 thoughts to the sound of rich music that “graciously appeared” for us! Thank you, Kyle! As always, I appreciate how you bring jazz to life for me through these sorts of connections to the ways we experience life – jazz-like and improvised. That is, if we’re really tuned in to what is happening inside of us and around us. I think you ought to write a book of reflections on the meaning of jazz; I’ll buy the first copy.
Hey Bob, It may be the only copy that sells, but I appreciate it just the same!