I was standing in line for the bathroom and the sixtysomething guy in front of me told me to turn my Blackberry off, to leave my work at the office.<\/p>\n
I was at Carnegie Hall for the teacher awards for the foundation Felice runs.<\/p>\n
Before the event there was a dinner at the Trattoria across the street.\u00c2\u00a0 After the main course, the six honorees were called upon to tell their stories.\u00c2\u00a0 When they arose you saw no haute couture.\u00c2\u00a0 But each of them radiated something from the inside, an electricity, a dedication to their work.\u00c2\u00a0 Not a job, but a calling.<\/p>\n
After crossing the street to the Hall, after getting my ticket ripped, I walked down to the stage.\u00c2\u00a0 Not to look at the instruments there, but to gain perspective.\u00c2\u00a0 To be able to look up to the upper deck, where I’d sat to see Elton John in June 1971.<\/p>\n
It’s probably unfathomable to the younger generation that in the seventies you just had to put the tickets on sale, everything went clean almost instantly.\u00c2\u00a0 Not that Elton John was quite the star he is today.\u00c2\u00a0 That was another year off, with his "comeback" track, "Rocket Man".\u00c2\u00a0 Oh, "Your Song" had been ubiquitous.\u00c2\u00a0 But for the next eighteen months, Elton was an album rocker.\u00c2\u00a0 His singles didn’t dominate the AM airwaves.\u00c2\u00a0 He was the personal favorite of those who’d rather spend their money on records than food.\u00c2\u00a0 And, how great those albums were.\u00c2\u00a0 Not only the American debut, with the hit and "Take Me To The Pilot" and "Sixty Years On" and "The King Must Die", but "Tumbleweed Connection".\u00c2\u00a0 And the soundtrack to the movie "Friends".\u00c2\u00a0 And the live album "11\/17\/70".\u00c2\u00a0 Four records in LESS than a year.\u00c2\u00a0 A track record I can’t remember ANYBODY else having.\u00c2\u00a0 And I bought them all.\u00c2\u00a0 I was a major fan, I was addicted.\u00c2\u00a0 I had to see him.<\/p>\n
So I sent away for my tickets mail order.\u00c2\u00a0 And ended up in the upper reaches of Carnegie Hall.\u00c2\u00a0 Elton played "Indian Sunset", the opening track of the second side of "Madman Across The Water", which hadn’t been released yet, which wouldn’t hit stores until Christmas.\u00c2\u00a0 And, of course, he finished the show with "Burn Down The Mission".\u00c2\u00a0 Which we knew from the live record could go on for the better part of twenty minutes.\u00c2\u00a0 And deep into the instrumental workout, Elton threw in a figure, unmistakable to those of us who bought every record, who knew everything.\u00c2\u00a0 The riff from "Jesus Christ Superstar".\u00c2\u00a0 Oh now that double album is a joke.\u00c2\u00a0 But this was before the play, when the record was still cool.\u00c2\u00a0 And it WAS cool, just see who sang on it.\u00c2\u00a0 But, what makes the insertion of the riff so memorable is that ELTON knew it.\u00c2\u00a0 This was before you had to synchronize your performance with machines, when you could throw in extraneous elements, when you could IMPROVISE!\u00c2\u00a0 When you could make every show SPECIAL!<\/p>\n
And I hadn’t been to Carnegie Hall since.\u00c2\u00a0 Oh, I went a bunch as a kid, my parents educating me to music, but then I was a rocker, and very little rock ever showed up on 57th Street, and then I moved to L.A.\u00c2\u00a0 But when I saw that spot in the balcony where I jumped up and exclaimed when Elton made that musical reference, my body tingled.\u00c2\u00a0 It was thirty five years ago, but the memory was still crystal clear.\u00c2\u00a0 I envied the boy who was so EXCITED!<\/p>\n
So this man in the queue at the bathroom haughtily says I must be a lawyer.\u00c2\u00a0 I told him I was once.\u00c2\u00a0 But that was long ago.\u00c2\u00a0 And now that I was a writer.\u00c2\u00a0 And I lived for the responses.\u00c2\u00a0 It wasn’t a chore to check my Blackberry, but often a key to excitement.<\/p>\n
Then this gentleman confessed that he was an attorney.\u00c2\u00a0 In Teaneck.\u00c2\u00a0 Doing small town practice.\u00c2\u00a0 Real estate, wills.\u00c2\u00a0 And it was clear, he didn’t enjoy it much more than I had.<\/p>\n
And we ended up in adjacent urinals.\u00c2\u00a0 And as we did our business, this man continued the conversation.\u00c2\u00a0 And turning to answer, it was then that I noticed his deformity.\u00c2\u00a0 His left arm.\u00c2\u00a0 It ended above the elbow joint.\u00c2\u00a0 At its end was attached a seemingly unusable hand.\u00c2\u00a0 I slowly averted my eyes.\u00c2\u00a0 Not wanting to appear to stare.\u00c2\u00a0 His life, with this substandard appendage, how hard had it been?\u00c2\u00a0 But he was married, his daughter now worked with him, he was loved.\u00c2\u00a0 Not that he was extremely lovable.\u00c2\u00a0 But I felt good about society.\u00c2\u00a0 That someone could overlook his imperfection, and accept the human being inside.<\/p>\n
And with a newfound perspective, I turned to wash my hands and noticed this wasn’t a pretty crowd.\u00c2\u00a0 This was not a Hollywood crowd.\u00c2\u00a0 The clothes were oftentimes out of date.\u00c2\u00a0 The grooming was not perfect.\u00c2\u00a0 It wasn’t quite a motley crew, but it wasn’t that far away from it.\u00c2\u00a0 You could tell everybody’s life had not been easy.\u00c2\u00a0 But they’d showed up tonight to let the music set them free.<\/p>\n
And that’s what music does.\u00c2\u00a0 It takes you away from the mundane.\u00c2\u00a0 It relaxes you, and as it continues your mind starts to drift.\u00c2\u00a0 To a better place.\u00c2\u00a0 Where you’re pretty.\u00c2\u00a0 Where you’re in control of life.\u00c2\u00a0 Where everything works out.<\/p>\n
And back in my seat, I contemplated how no other art form provided such a service.\u00c2\u00a0 Television never embraces you.\u00c2\u00a0 And even movies are something you watch, in front of you.\u00c2\u00a0 Whereas music SURROUNDS you, and then penetrates you.<\/p>\n
And then Jane Pauley took the stage.\u00c2\u00a0 And after recounting her own musical experiences, she revealed the names of the six award winners, and as they walked out onto the stage of Carnegie Hall, there was rapturous applause.\u00c2\u00a0 From an audience that cheered when Jane reminded them of a day when a requirement to teach was the ability to play the piano.\u00c2\u00a0 And as I’m sitting there, tears are coming to my eyes.<\/p>\n
You see they’re living the dream.\u00c2\u00a0 From their outposts in San Francisco, New Orleans, Ohio, Georgia, they’d been called to the temple.\u00c2\u00a0 The preeminent music venue in America.\u00c2\u00a0 They’d practiced for decades, and here they were, on stage at Carnegie Hall.\u00c2\u00a0 It was just a moment, but a story that would be told for the rest of their lives.\u00c2\u00a0 An inner light they could rely on, as they continued to do their work unheralded.<\/p>\n
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