PERFORMANCE PERSPECTIVES

Branford Marsalas
A QUALITY PERFORMANCE

The musicians confidently stroll onto the stage.

A charming introduction from Branford explains that what we are about to hear could be great if they play it well and horrible if they play it badly. The tune is called “Impalor” and of course, it’s great. Full of vigorous, driving energy. The audience is engaged, enthralled and energized.

But what are the ingredients that deliver this actively collaborative environment between performers and audience?

The answer is embodied in the ambience of Branford’s introduction. In sharing that simple statement with the audience a number of goals were achieved:-

He immediately established equality with the audience by sharing the bands fallibility, for now the audience were not watching super-humans or machines tuned to perfection for now they were to share a concert with some musicians who would try their best but might make mistakes.

In sharing the risk that all live performers face (i.e. that they might fail) he created a bond with the audience - for everyone can understand this fear and identify with that risk.
Simultaneously he bound the band together by sharing equally with them the responsibility for success or failure and in doing so gave them permission to venture forth and take risks in the pursuit of their musical goals
In this simple way he created strong and simple bonds between all the participants in the evening’s event before a note had been played. Just through the process of sharing.

Sharing is a potent force indeed.

Once reasonable expectations had been set, the audience actively and openly listened to the first song and at its conclusion roared their approval.

How to Maintain the Achievements

If at this point Branford had successfully engaged the audience how…

• were they ‘energized’ and ‘enthralled’ and
• how were these goals maintained once they had been achieved?

It would be too simple to say that the driving power of the music was the source of the energy for although this is true to some extent, after a short time, if speed is all there is on offer the audiences concentration will soon divert.

So what other energies existed within the band?

Well, there is no doubt in my mind that the energy of ‘well-told story’ was constantly present. Not only was it there in Branford’s pleasant introductions but it was also there in the music. Every piece had a story to tell - a journey to travel - and when the story arrived at its end the music stopped.

There was also the energy of freedom, for the sharing of responsibility demonstrated by Branford in his opening remarks was not idle chatter. It was clear from the way the band performed that the shared responsibility for the outcome of the night also gave full permission to each performer to bring their contribution to the storytelling. This freedom was fully utilized as each soloist explored and developed the storytelling.

And further more each musician was in tune with the energy generated by the other members of the band - so the energy ebbed and flowed between them. This interaction can only be based on shared active listening and the wondrous music evolved significantly from this source. So the audience was inevitably alert to the stimuli emanating from the band members and the energy of active listening not only ebbed and flowed between musicians and between the audience and the band but also between audience members.

With this focused energy abounding The Branford Marsalas Quartet held the audience in its thrall …

And the other elaborate ingredients which made this delightful night a success?

Well … they certainly played well.

And … it was a well-balanced programme. No two pieces were the same. From the explosive “Impalor”, to the energetic but whimsical “Hollywood Fool”, to the symphonic “One Thousand Autumns” or the countrified “Countronius Rex” – the programme was structured for variety and texture. With a well-balanced and diverse programme in place all the performers had to do was deliver the content.

So the foundations of this blissful evening of entertainment were:-

• A simple and well delivered story
• An appropriate subtext (in this case “to share”)
• And good listening by the participants

Of course they are talented musicians and they have had a lot of practice but significantly were also confident and relaxed.

Actors should take note.

January 2001

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