Tuesday, December 23, 2014

Lining Up for Bagels

There is near my home a renowned bagel shop, in front of which a long line forms every Sunday morning.  On a recent cold, clammy morning I watched the line get longer and longer and couldn't help but wonder what it would take to get people to line up like that to hear live music?

Someone I know used to bake classic Viennese cookies for a snazzy East Side bakery.  Every cookie had to pass a rigid test of uniformity, determined by the weight of each egg. 

I once had my pancakes turned down by a nine-year-old visitor who wouldn't consider eating them because they weren't round.  My son still cringes at my haphazard kitchen habits: a bit of this, a dash of that....voila!

Does music have to sound like sterile recordings in order to be credible?   Do you have to know what you are listening to in order to let yourself go and experience it?