This winter started like the perfect jazz piece.
Take Poinciana. Ahmad Jamal starts with the simple melody of the Cuban folk tune. He repeats the single notes of the melody several times, simply. Da da da, dat, dub. Alone. And then, as he transitions into cords, the bass, the percussion and drums come in, maintaining the melody as he riffs off. As the piece moves on, each musician takes a spot building the melody, even the drums follow the lilt of the folk song. Ba ba ba, da dap. And they play against and with each other for nine minutes. Then each lifting a part of the melody, each building alone, as the others drop back. Then, they all come in together and rock.
So we had snow early, the first week of November. The ground has been white for well over a month. (The melody) The cords started with the opening of the ski area a few days ago, we’re just waiting for the individual parts of the season to begin their solos.
The ski area, and our town, died on March 16. Suddenly and dramatically, we drove off an unseen cliff. In a fashion, with the snow we regained our melody. A bit of our former life. Now each of us gets a solo part. Stepping forward and stepping back as needed, building into a great season.
Let ‘er rip.
