What Music Means To The Musashi Trio

When the show starts I feel the crowds anticipation in my heart. I think about all the worlds problems and issues and the endless questions that people have. I wonder for a moment if music is indeed the one true remedy for all of this. Then I begin to feel it all surge through my fingertips. And into my voice that I am allowed vent my ideas with. The many hours spent brooding, pining and searching for all and any answers that people can accept in one continuous moment of music. Yes. The music. And in this particular case, my music.

Our music. A true sword in a victimless battle of musicianship where everyone wins. And we The Musashi Trio are on stage in the heart of it. I look to my left and see The Rev. Ken Roussell with bass in hand. He looks up and acknowledges me with a subtle nod of his head.




We both feel the steady rhythm of the kick drum as we begin to play. Jim Richards lays down the beat as solid and fluid as the ocean waves pounding a beach. Yet the song is like a ship that carries us out and beyond, relying on the timing of each surge. The rhythm is so essential. It is the line between utter chaos and comprehension of sound. Without the rhythm, the music would be a cluster of melodies, scattered in the wind. It would be as empty as a movie with no music or soundtrack. Void of depth. Linear and flat.

And as we play into the night, each song is a journey. A spiritual trip in and out of the moment. An escape from the woes of reality. A temporary relief from the daily stress of life itself. We mean to take each and everyone in the room with us out and back again until the show is over. Sometimes I finish a song and I feel my spirit floating back down to the stage the way a leaf floats from limb to earth. 

And at the end of the night I am satisfied. Everything makes sense to me when I have made people enjoy music. There is no amount of fame that will ever be worth more than just that. Making people happy with music has been a long tradition in all cultures since the dawn of time. If you have time to think about it, all culture relies so heavily on its music, that when ever it become a lesser priority to money...society begins to decline. It may not collapse, but it starts to slide away from its root. And that is why I feel it so necessary to do what I do. We are part of large organization of souls who continue to provide music for the masses. It's 2012 and we have just begun here in America. And because there is such a world wide connection of people on line, there seems to be no limit in the direction music travels and speaks. Always to our hearts when in need. To our minds when in doubt. And forever in our souls... is the music. And we, The Musashi Trio are going to play our part.

See ya at the next show and be well until then.

The Musashi Trio

Photography: Amelia Kennedy

Artwork: Les Toil