i was there. as a young aspiring jazz artist attending conservatory near NYC, i took jazz lessons with Eric Dolphy and others close to Miles. Met him a couple o

i was there. as a young aspiring jazz artist attending conservatory near NYC, i took jazz lessons with Eric Dolphy and others close to Miles. Met him a couple of times at his gigs. i grew up about a mile from the legendary Van Gelder studio where many great jazz albums were recorded. i used to go hang out and pick up the vibes by osmosis. of course you don’t disturb an artist when they’re working. that’s just so obvious to anyone with musical experience. even listening to music at a high level requires unbroken concentration. what kind of idiot would disturb a world-class musician at a gig? yeah, critics. surprisingly the article didn’t mention jazz artists’ spiritual interests. everyone in the scene in those days, including Miles, was reading and discussing original Vedic and Buddhist source literatures. like drugs, it was simply part of being a serious jazz player. spiritual interests and insights drove a lot of the innovation in jazz in the ‘60s. i left the jazz scene to go to india for years of serious study. when i came back, so much had changed. a darkness had come over the scene. many of the best musicians and close friends had passed away before their maturity. it was so sad. i wound up going back to india and becoming a monk. back in the ‘60s we believed that music had the power to change the world. unfortunately the corporate music business didn’t want to change the world, they just wanted profit. the road to hell is paved with gold, friends.