Ella Fitzgerald – On The Sunny Side Of The Street
Today I arrived earlier than usual. When I open my eyes around 3 a.m., I usually turn on my phone out of habit and inertially go to Instagram. In the midst of feeds filled with news of author Han Kang winning the Nobel Prize, the recommendation algorithm threw out Haruki’s sentences that were mentioned along with Han Kang. As I looked at Haruki’s words in the feed, I was reminded of the 100 pieces of jazz he listens to while working. Guided by that memory, I opened Spotify and saved the Haruki playlist someone had made. Rather than thinking that I wanted to listen to jazz, I just turned on Spotify out of habit, and that day I chose jazz.
I had an appointment, so I took my mom’s car. I always listen to pop music, but today, while my mind was floating around, the words of the song seemed to block the floats in my thoughts. So I chose music without lyrics. The only string quartet left by Debussy (CA Debussy String Quartet in G minor Op.10). liberation of chamber musicAlthough it is an unconventional song, today’s boredom and the fog in my head cannot be lifted by ‘liberation of chamber music’. I still have a preconceived notion about classic music, that it is ‘frustrating.’ The perfection of the understated melody makes me want to take off a tie I’m not even wearing. And suddenly, Haruki’s playlist saved in the early morning came to mind. The leisurely thoughts of Ella Fitzgerald, Chet Baker, and Louis Armstrong disappear into the distance.
As I relaxed into the car seat, the thought that came to mind was, ‘Why do I like this music?’ I’m trying to connect my brain to Bergson’s materiality, which I’ve been thinking about lately.
The leisureliness, spontaneity, and unexpectedness of jazz are so attractive. Jazz, which deviates from a set melody and is played according to the moment, finds its own freedom in the beauty of improvisation. And the finished result surprises people. While listening to jazz, I have random thoughts about whether I, too, will one day be able to enjoy the unexpected and be free. Living an uncertain life like jazz is too difficult for me.
The coffee festival was in full swing in Chinatown, where I came to meet Kyubin. Since I had to spend time alone until the event ended, I wandered around Chinatown in search of a cafe. I couldn’t find a place I really liked, so I wandered around and found a street where relaxing music was playing loudly. As if I was fascinated, I followed the jazz music and entered a building that looked like a listening party was being held.
Jazz too!
I hesitated, went in, took a seat, closed my eyes, and felt the loud music vibrate my whole body. As he explains the history of modern jazz music, his body and mind move as he listens to each piece of music he plays. I heard somewhere that if a man and a woman go to a concert together, romantic misunderstandings may arise. They say that when your heart rate increases due to the loud music at a concert, you fall in love because you mistakenly believe that the increased heart rate is due to the other person? I felt such a pleasant vibration and vibration that I might have fallen in love if the opposite sex had been by my side.
Of course, it would be a bit sad if this good tremor was due to arrhythmia.
Anyway, I am very happy that such a high-class event is being held in a place that fits in with the history of the city. I feel like this city, these streets, and this music were prepared for me. I am so grateful for this moment of encountering the music I love.
After the listening session, I got today’s playlist from the speaker. The speaker, who is the president of Annapurna Publishing, said he would give me a business card and led me to the booth operated by the publishing company.
There were booths selling various records and LPs lined up along the way, and among the booths with a lively atmosphere, one stall was urgently called out to pick up the lucky $2. I felt like I had entrusted my luck to that person. As I approached the stall to retrieve my lucky charms, which I had probably left behind, the owner gave me two lucky coins and smiled as if satisfied. The person who gives me luck and makes me happy is pure. This innocence makes me smile again.
Thankfully, I was able to get a playlist for the listening session from the speaker!Perhaps luck in leaving it to me?
On my way home, I can still hear jazz in my ears. As I pass by the quiet LP bar, heavy jazz grabs my arm again and wraps it around me. The jazz coming from a refrigerator-sized speaker seemed like it was trying to swallow me up. When I saw the jazz music coming out of the enormous loudspeaker, it was clear that the LP pins were busy spinning around the records. Although I didn’t cross the threshold of the store, I stood in front of the store for a moment and let the sound of jazz reverberate through the street flow through my whole body. Jazz was lifting my mood, which had been depressed for a while. After tasting the groovy charm of CCR, an LP bar in Dongincheon that drew my whole body in, I left the street, promising that November would be a little colder.
CCR LP Bar (Dongincheon)
The road home was cold as I trudged home, my head and body full of anxiety and confusion. However, the anxiety, confusion, and even the cold wind cutting through the woolen knit only make the warmth of jazz feel sweeter. Today is a day full of jazz. When the mind moves, a groove is created, and if the beat is simply ticking, it is just a rhythm. If rhythm is the basic framework of life, groove is a lively flow created by adding our emotions and experiences to it. Even today, I live a groovy life in the rhythm of jazz. And tomorrow I will definitely walk towards a brighter part of the street. Rather than simple optimism, it is a ‘jazz way of thinking’ while listening to jazz. Ella’s voice comes to mind again.
Can’t you hear a pitter-pat
And that happy tune is your step
Life can be so sweet
On the sunny side of the street.
I hope we remember that the direction of our steps can lead to a happy melody, that is, that life can be sweet depending on the perspective we choose. No matter how tall and fat the building is, noon comes. This means that there comes a moment every day when no shadow is cast on the street I walk on. Life will go where I step. In this city, the serendipities and serendipitous fortunes prepared for me are always waiting to entertain me, and the moment when I encounter that fortune is always close by.
#Incheon Record Platform
#IncheonRecordPlatform
#Incheon Art Platform
#Open Port Project
#Incheon Urban Corporation
#Incheon Cultural Foundation
#Incheon Urban Regeneration
