Dr Matt’s Newsletter March 11th: Wayne Shorter - August 25, 1933 to March 2, 2023
Supporting healthy social interactions and diversity of health choices
Wayne Shorter died March 2nd, 9 days ago. Below are a selection of tunes from his extended career, including a live number done with his longtime friend and musical partner, Joe Zawinul in 2007. It was Zawinul’s last concert appearance and he died one month later. As my avid readers know by now, I do not think anyone actually dies, so I use the word “died” with reservations.
I am sharing yet another near death experience to help make this point. Tricia Barker shows how coming to terms with physical death allows us to live each moment more fully, including “good ones”, “bad ones”, and “ugly ones” :-).
This week’s research section includes the power of music for healing, with hundreds of randomized trials showing improved pain, stress and anxiety.
Today’s newsletter sections include:
Humor from Bobbie Ann Cox
Music of the Week – Wayne Shorter: “Gone” but still with us
Inspiration of the Week – Yet another near death experience - Tricia Barker died during surgery after a severe car crash, and had an experience that pulled her out of her anxiety-filled identity crisis, and into a lifetime as a teacher and healer.
Research of the week – Music and healing: Meta-analyses from hundreds of randomized studies on how it helps reduce stress, anxiety, and pain.
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Yours truly, one moment at a time.
Matt Irwin
Humor of the Week
Many of us have this sentiment in common with Attorney Bobbie Anne Cox who sent this on her Substack
Music of the Week – Wayne Shorter a history of music
Wayne Shorter was an icon of jazz, and one of the most creative and skilled saxophonists ever. His career spans the history of jazz and I have been doing a “deep dive” into his music this week. He helped found and promote musical exploration in some of the most famous music groups ever starting with Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, then with Miles David Quintet, and then he formed the fusion group, Weather Report in 1970 with Joe Zawinul. Although he is famous for jazz, including writing over 200 compositions and winning 11 Grammy awards, I am very interested in an opera he wrote with Harvard Music professor Esperanza spalding in 2021 - maybe for a future newsletter…
Wayne’s career spanned 60 years, from early swinging blues-bebop with the Jazz Messengers, to more modern “Cool Jazz” with Miles Davis, to fusion with Weather Report, and finally to playing pretty much whatever he wanted including composing and playing with Santana, Steely Dan, and Joni Mitchell. I included more tunes than usual and in fact had a tough choice in what to keep out.
Jazz is definitely not “easy listening”. It contains joy and beauty, but also sadness, confusion, and sometimes general mayhem. That is what makes it perfect for mindfully experiencing the “whole catastrophe”.
1) Wayne Shorter and Joe Zawinul: In a Silent Way
This tune is the title track from a breakthrough fusion album by Miles Davis, written by Joe Zawinul. You know when a musical piece is called “In a Silent Way” it will be a bit different…
Believe it or not, there is a written melody in this tune, which appears after four and a half minutes of meditative free-form jamming, and again at near the close-out. Miles was a master of “Ambient Music”, like Erik Satie who was featured January 4th. You can see from the video intro section that Wayne and Joe have had a deep long-lasting friendship. Joe Zawinul was admitted to the hospital five days after this concert, diagnosed with a rare form of cancer, and “died” one month later.
2) Footprints: live on Tavis Smiley with Esperanza spalding
Wayne and Esperanza also wrote an opera together which premiered in 2021, Iphigenia.
3) Birdland - Live in 1978 with Weather Report
Wayne and Joe Zawinul founded the fusion group Weather Report in 1970, and played together for 16 years. Below is one of their signature tunes.
4) Footprints (Live in Sweden)
Trip back in time with the same tune done in 1967 with the Miles Davis Quintet.
5) The Summit: Live in Tokyo with Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers
A trip even farther back to 1961. Wayne Shorter got his start with the Jazz Messengers in 1959. It so happens that Lee Morgan is perhaps my favorite trumpeter from that era and they played together for many years including on the two tunes below.
6) Dat Dere: Live in Tokyo with Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers 1961
Another tune from the same Tokyo concert
7) Boogie Woogie Waltz with Weather Report
Believe it or not Wayne does solo on this tune. You may miss it because it is subtle and completely different from his hard bop and cool jazz days…
8) In a Silent Way (excerpt)
Live in 2011 with Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Marcus Miller Tony Williams, and Wallace Roney. I could not find the whole tune so here is an excerpt. Notice that Wayne references the theme from Star Wars in his solo - likely unconsciously - but there it is :-). This group had multiple “Tribute to Miles” concerts over a period of about twenty years, and I saw them play shortly after Miles died. Although they loved Miles, I also think they got together for so many years because they just liked playing together :-).
Inspiration of the Week – Yet another near death experience - Tricia Barker died during surgery after a severe car crash, and had an experience that pulled her out of her depressed anxiety, and into a lifetime as a teacher and healer.
Here are some quotes from the beautifully made video interview below:
“My senior year in college I was depressed. I had been in a bad break-up and I knew my drinking and drug use was kind of off the charts. I actually started having these panic attacks about mortality… I thought “what am I doing with my life?” and I really panicked. … I started having these nightmares and I felt something coming for me.”
She was right about “something coming” but it turned out to be a lot closer to angels than demons. Her experience definitely is “out there” but with practical lessons for her day to day life.
“There is no word to describe that happiness. It was relief, and just … peace. … These light beings were behind my surgeon, there to send healing… I felt the energy of everyone I have ever known, and sent them the message of the soul ‘Go love your life’.”
She describes a classic “life review”, and also how difficult her recovery from her injuries was after returning to the regular world of flesh and blood. Later in the interview she offers some lessons on what she learned and tries to put into each moment of her daily life:
“Maybe there are struggles, but we can still get to a point where we’re giving to society (and) really enjoying life. We have a lot of joy in our life and we know to the best of our ability we’re giving love to the world. I know we all get frustrated … with all kinds of things. I’m not immune to it. I certainly have moments in life I’m terribly frustrated, but shifting back into “how do I enjoy this more; how do I remember my energy affects other people, and how do I not affect them in negative ways.”
“If we realize that we’re all connected and that we’re all “one” we wouldn’t want anyone to suffer. We would really make suffering in society the main focus. how do we ease suffering? How do we ease suffering in children’s lives, and the elderly, in people without insurance, in people who can’t find a job, in people who are disabled? How do we just across the board help people live better lives?. Near Death Experiences are pointing towards “Hey, there’s a greater love on the other side that can help us live better lives. Let’s do it.”
Research of the week - Meta-Analyses of music for healing
Did you know that at least 200 randomized trials of music in healing have been done? About 100 different randomized trials were combined in each meta-analysis, below, one focusing on stress and anxiety, and the other on pain relief. The first found statistically and clinically significant stress reduction, including physiologic signs such as reduced heart rate and lowered blood pressure. The second found improved emotional distress from pain, decreased pain medication use and reduced opioid intake, lower heart rate and blood pressure, and slowed respiration rates.
Do you think it makes a difference what music is being listened to? Of course it does! However, this is a unique experience to each individual. Even the same person, in different moments, may respond differently to the same piece of music: one day jazz, the next day classical, folk, rock, etc. Maybe that is why I like to mix the genres in my newsletters :-)
References: Music and Healing
de Witte M et al (2020). Effects of music interventions on stress-related outcomes: a systematic review and two meta-analyses. Health Psychol Rev. 2020 Jun;14(2):294-324. doi: 10.1080/17437199.2019.1627897.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17437199.2019.1627897
Lee JH (2016). The Effects of Music on Pain: A Meta-Analysis. Journal of Music Therapy. 2016 Winter; 53(4):430-477. doi: 10.1093/jmt/thw012. Epub 2016