So okay, I accepted, and I realized while working for that concert that I'd been missing something very important and vital to me, and that something was music.
I've been informed by both sides, jazz, western music, Asian music, African music, all sides, because I've been interested in the sound of the universe, and that sound is without limit.
You know, face painting in non-Western cultures is a sign of collectivism, is a sign of one representing the community, it's not unique at all.
It took me a long time to reach the decision to retire, actually, from the Art Ensemble. But it seemed more important to me to share the vitality of Aikido and the vitality of Zen training with people, even though it would be a smaller number of people, it seemed to give them something that could last and improve their lives.
In 1993, I retired from the Art Ensemble of Chicago to devote myself full time to Buddhist studies and to the practice of Aikido.
Well, dojo is a traditional Japanese word for training hall.
We were doing performance art as far back as 1965, just not calling it that.
The Vision Festival was packed every night, always has been for the four years it's been happening.
People doing the kind of sound research that I'm interested in still have a difficult time.
Lotta people don't realize when you grow up with people, you have an affinity, a relationship you don't get with anyone else. After you're twenty years old, anyone you meet after that, it's different from the people you knew before.
It took me a long time to reach the decision to retire, actually, from the Art Ensemble.
In fact, since no one's been interested in my work, I took the responsibility recently to invest in my own work, so I'm producing a concert that was done at the Vision Festival in May.
I've been fortunate in that I've been forced to move from zone to zone.
Well, actually, I don't consider myself a jazz legend or anything.
People call to keep me abreast of what's going on.
