and Happiness

So, on Monday night, we went down to Philly and Did, Made, Said, Thought. It was a pretty great show in the sanctuary of the First Unitarian Church. I wasn't really disappointed. Do Make Say Think has been making music for 13 years, and it shows. Their technical excellence and intricate fusion of genres makes them stand out in a crowd of trend-passed post-rock bands. They were pretty impressive in every way.

[photo from WKDU]

But their bass player stole the show, and not really with his bass playing. No, he opened the evening with a half hour of what he called "a science experiment" that most of us could have listened to for the rest of the night. His name is Charles Spearin, and he decided to record interviews with all of his Toronto neighbors. Among them: a Jamaican woman, a Trinidadian man, a 6-year-old who doesn't seem too fond of school, a woman who's been deaf from birth, his 3-year-old daughter crying, and several others.

Once interviewed, he listened to the recordings for natural melodies and rhythms in their inflection and speech patterns. Then, he put it to music, creating songs out of their spoken words.

It was unlike anything I had ever heard. It was a total surprise. The musicians were spot on in their mimicry; the resulting compositions were at times whimsical, at times sobering, but completely fascinating, captivating, and inspiring.

He calls it The Happiness Project, and its feature spokeswoman is Mrs. Morris, the Jamaican who confidently declares in her accent, "Happiness is love...You've got to love people." (She's played by the tenor saxophone.)

The happiest moment is probably when the 6-year-old stutter is turned into one funky and infectious jazz rhythm.

The most affecting moment is when the woman describing her cochlear implant, giving her the ability to hear for the first time, says, "All of a sudden I found my body moving inside," and the slow drums kick in on their 7/4 rhythm as the keyboard follows along and the rest of the instruments join and build in bliss, as if you too really were hearing--with your whole body--for the first time.

And of course, I love that these neighbors now get the chance to travel the world in a sense, city by city, sharing their stories and wisdom with everyone they encounter.

I sat there soaking it in, confident that I had never witnessed such a life-affirming project with its interests centered so wholly on others. Where most artistry can quickly become an idol of self-indulgence, this first put the spotlight on the ordinary people all around us, then seemed to be an object of praise, bringing to light the song God has put in the heart of each human being.

Yes, I sat and gave praise. I have no reason to believe Charles Spearin is a follower of Christ, but does that mean he cannot bring glory to God? In my mind, God was glorified, perhaps not explicitly, but his image was displayed both in the most outrageous creative ideas he gives to his artists and in the way they take those ideas and use them to love others and spread some happiness. His fingerprints are left everywhere.

Hear some music over here. But track down the song "Vanessa" if you can.