Jim Panttaja

There is a lot that is special about live performances. We recently attended the Oregon Shakespeare Festival for a week. We saw seven plays over the course of five days. It is so much better than watching a movie that I am reluctant to make the comparison. You feel the risk that the performers are taking, and the success that they are achieving. And you get to make a connection with the performer. At the Oregon Shakespeare festival, some of that connection is achieved by seeing the same actor in multiple roles, and some is achieved because you see the actors around town. Last Sunday, I attended a masterclass put on by Sir James Galway, and his wife Lady Jeanne Galway. I have been lucky enough to attend a concert with Sir James in San Francisco, and a duo concert with the two of them in Santa Rosa in the last couple of years. Being in the room with them is such a different experience from listening to a CD - or even viewing a concert on TV. At one point, late in the afternoon, they played a duet. Although it was clearly planned - there was time only for each to pick up a flute from the table, and start to play. You get a different level of appreciation of their art - seeing them - just play. Lady Jeanne made the comment that you have to be ready before you walk in the room - and Sir James had walked in several hours before.

Last week, we attended an evening of Jazz sponsored by the Healdsburg Jazz Festival - and saw a local favorite, Julian Lage with his trio. After a couple of numbers, Julian introduced his drummer, Lorca Hart and bassist, John Shifflet - and them introduced them to each other - they had never met before. That added to the magic of the evening as they listened to each other - found common ground - and then found new ground.

I think about the musician who were alive in my lifetime - that I never took the opportunity to hear/see live. There are always legends (Dave Brubeck will play in Santa Rosa in August - sponsored by the Healdsburg Jazz Festival), and wonderful young musicians like Julian Lage, playing locally. I need to make sure that I spend more time seeing them, hearing them, learning more about them than I might learn watching them on TV, or listening to a CD.