*cue saxophones*

“The saxophones are getting louder…”

The longer I exist in this world the more niche the lingo becomes. There’s a way to be socially literate without being chronically online (I think).

The last time I played at Hunt House, an open mic in Marietta on Wednesdays, I got to play with Rick, a saxophone player. He’s super cool and I’ve seen him at the open mic a lot playing with other people and doing a couple sets on his own. It’s refreshing to hear a different instrument. Usually open mics are filled with folks and their 6 strings.

They were cutting the open mic short and weren’t going to let him play so I offered to have him accompany two originals I had.

Playing with someone else is very different from going solo. However, I’ve always been good at working with others. The key to good synergy is listening.

In the dance world, there is a lot of improvisation. Partner improv is where you dance with another person and every movement is completely on the spot. No one comes in prepared with anything. It’s so fun because you and that other person have a true moment of connection where literally everyone else disappears and it’s just you two in your world. Usually, this doesn’t happen with an audience so there’s no one to worry about except the other person.

Playing onstage with someone else with an instrument I’ve never played with was the same in a lot of ways but also slightly different. Obviously, it was not a world where only we two existed. The audience was watching so there’s that element of influence. However, in terms of actually playing, there was no noise except for his saxophone. I was tapped in. You listen, you play together, you attempt to sync your instruments so instead of two individual sounds playing at the same time, you become one sound.

This world is built on connection. I’ve said this before but it doesn’t get old: we cannot exist without each other.

In that vein, that’s why it’s so important to be kind.

We cannot exist without each other which means we must exist with each other. Which means the way in which we exist with each other has impact. It’s unavoidable.

“The saxophones are getting louder” is often said before something catastrophic or, more plainly, bad happens. But in my mind, it means something inevitable is about to happen.

When I first started dancing, I looked up to my friend Robert a lot. He worked with me at the Kid’s Museum and taught a workshop for the collegiate dance event I was part of. Eventually, he went on tour with Taylor Swift and has done a million things since.

A moment I will never forget with Robert was when we were freestyling at a dance workshop. He danced with the music in a way I couldn’t predict. He helped me hear things I would’ve missed otherwise. He did it so effortlessly.

I asked him afterwards how he was able to do that. He said “It’s all in the music. If you know the basic rhythm and pay attention to the patterns, you can predict where things will be”.

A music build up usually indicates a change in the song, whether or not we acknowledge or highlight it.

Good or bad, it is always inevitable.

The only unpredictable thing about it is what action we take in response.

What do you do when the saxophones start getting louder?

What will you do once the saxophones cut out?