Week of Wonders: September 5

September 5, lost in time

Today is a very long day. Today is 30 hours long. It comes out even because I had a day that was 18 hours long last week. Even Steven. But what if I were flying from Prague to New York one way, not round trip? Then I'd be ahead of the game. Six hours up! It's hard to imagine that it all evens out, that for every one-way passenger heading east there's a one-way passenger heading west. The airlines have enough to worry about without that kind of headache. And besides, it hardly seems fair robbing hours from Peter to give to Paul, so to speak. The only thing that seems plausible is that if you make a trans-oceanic flight, or even a shorter one, really, without a return trip, that you die a few hours earlier than you otherwise would have. Or later. That's the only way it could realistically even out.

The name of this song is “September 5.” I am listening to it 37,000 feet up in the air. 2,012 miles to New York, 2,019 miles from Paris. Sanchez opens, another simple piano figure, simpler cymbal work behind her, sax coming in and out again. I'm finding an appeal in the simplicity on this record – or maybe I'd already found it but it's here again. Lovely solo from Sanchez, bits of discordance, surprising, subtle rhythm shifts – they all shine within the surface conventionality. Sanchez's solo continues as the other two drop out, then the theme returns. Eskelin was the perfect horn player for this. It's not his usual thing, but he's got the smarts for it, he's good at drawing from styles and making something new. Then a surprising deconstruction, a new energy for about 60 seconds before it returns and resolves.