LISTEN TO THE KIDS, BRO!
I am so inspired.
I am inspired to help you.
I am inspired to bring you these GOLDEN NUGGETS.
I have got three BIGLY ones I want to deep dive into over the next couple of days.
Today, on Netflix, I watched the documentary titled “Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool,” and it delved into the mind, creative process, and style of the King of Cool himself, the indomitable MR. Miles Davis.
I am a Miles Davis fan to the depth of my core, and after watching that documentary, I am a Miles fan in the inner depths of my soul.
The documentary showed that those closest to Miles could become immersed in his thoughts and how he was able to constantly reinvent himself as well as his music for the upcoming generation.
Even though I learned three critical things today, we’re deep-diving into the first one.
1. Follow The Youth
There’s a moment in Miles’ career after his band had created some of the most epic music, masterpieces really such as “Kind of Blue” and “Sketch of Spain’, Miles stops working, he loses momentum with his band, and they are no longer inspired.
They band wants to stay together, but musically that fire that fuels these musician's souls is no longer warm. So the band does what most popular bands do, they disband.
The band members go their separate ways and are for the better…
Miles steps back…
Looks at the landscape of music and decides to bring together a new band.
Instead of a 19 member band…
He wants a quintet.
So, in true Miles Davis fashion, he proceeds to assemble a group consisting of young jazz artists:
Wayne Shorter — tenor saxophone
Herbie Hancock — piano
Ron Carter — bass
Tony Williams — drums
The oldest member of the group is Hancock, at 23 years of age.
The youngest is 17.
Can you imagine playing your instrument of choice, night after night, (and at the time you couldn’t even buy a drink because the legal age limit was 25) and your boss is Miles Davis???!!!
Can you imagine that pressure???
Miles knew something most of us still don’t take advantage of to this day.
He knew that the youth is where the real creative sauce lies.
The reason for this choice of youth is because the youth are still learning…
Still eager to go above what is necessary and yet not so frazzled by life and it’s many rejections that make many of us so discouraged and forlorn…
Not creatively drained by a mortgage or job obligations.
He mentored those young musicians who all went on to have illustrious careers and greatness in their own right.
They learned grit playing backup, night after night on the smokey lounge stages with Miles.
It was not a one-way relationship either, because Miles mentored them to greatness as they brought Miles’ sound into the current jazz scene. They brought him into the ‘sound of the time.’
These musicians weren’t lackeys who just cowered at his demands, no these new breed of musicians creatively pushed back as they found their creative sounds.
I know that creatively we tend to look to mentors, usually, others who are far ahead of you creatively.
I’m talking about the artist who creates MASTERCLASS courses!
Those award winners who become iconoclasts of the culture.
Creators that make us stand in awe and go “Wow, I’d love to create on that level.”
But when’s the last time we were inspired by someone at the beginning of their creative journey?
A young savant.
A young poet.
A young painter.
When do we study their work?
As a single creator, you might have a better grasp of the craft, but they might have a better perspective on how to get the perspective viewpoint across.
Take time on youtube today to watch what the youth is creating and take notes,
we all might get a piece of inspiration you can take to further create your career.
Just a thought….