(June 8, 2012) WASHINGTON, DC — I ask people questions.
These days, it’s the main thing I spend my time doing. I’m an introvert and not that good in small groups of people. Or one on one, for that matter, except when I’m asking questions. It makes me happy to learn about other people. The things they care about. The things they’ve spent lots of time figuring out. The things they wonder about. The things they love.
Today I asked two very different sets of questions. This morning, I did the first interview for a freelance audio project I’m working on related to education. I can’t say all that much about it, but the basic idea is that I’m interviewing people from a particular education company so that their co-workers in far-flung places can learn more about the various projects this company is working on.
My guest today was an inspiring and brilliant researcher whose primary focus is on how we amass and analyze data in schools. It was an exciting interview for me because my main role was to be the extreme non-expert, a position for which I was eminently qualified. So when he would give me a brilliant answer, I would force him to reduce it to its core components so that someone without his academic background could understand it.
I felt well prepared for this, because it’s not dissimilar to what I often do on The Jazz Session. I see my role there as the stand-in for the audience. And I see the role of the show as a snapshot and archive of the current trends in jazz. So when someone talks about a term on the show (microtones or modal improvisation, for example) I make sure that everyone who’s listening to can follow the conversation. That means that the show is useful as an educational archive. More importantly, it means that people don’t feel like they’re excluded from the conversation by some high wall of expertise.
Back to the education interview. I had two favorite moments. One was my attempt to summarize our one-hour conversation in 60 seconds. But the other was the moment at the end when I asked my guest to take off his “smart-guy hat” and just talk about what made him want to get up in the morning to figure out new ways to crunch numbers. His elegant and heartfelt answer was a beautiful reminder of why I feel so lucky to get to listen to so many creative, passionate people.
(At left: I saw this guy on my way home from the interview. He sounded fantastic.) Later in the day I interviewed Janel and Anthony about their new album, Where Is Home on Cuneiform Records. Janel plays cello and Anthony plays guitar, but that doesn’t scratch the surface of their sound. That interview will be on The Jazz Session on Monday, June 18.
Oh, and speaking of photos, the one at the top of this post is of a sign I saw in a food truck in Silver Spring, Maryland. Broadway-Lafayette is a subway stop in Manhattan and the subject of an inside joke I share with a friend. Little things pop up in odd places.
Yesterday I hung out with poet Sandra Beasley. When I mentioned that I was staying in Silver Spring, she recommended an Ethiopian restaurant she’d heard about that, like most Ethiopian places, was vegan-friendly. Today I asked for the address and then took a nice, long walk to LacoMelza Ethiopian Cafe and Gallery at 7912 Georgia Avenue. I don’t know how this is possible, but it was my first time in an Ethiopian restaurant. The food was incredible. I ordered the veggie combination that Sandra had heard about, and this is what I got:
Lots of spicy and flavorful vegetable dishes and the injera (flatbread) to wrap them in. I loved it and hope to go back if I have time. I haven’t asked anyone to explain it, but there are nine Ethiopian restaurants within a half-mile radius here in Silver Spring. I imagine that’s because there are a lot of Ethiopians, but I’d love to know how they happened to gather here.
I’ve gone out or traveled every night of the tour so far, so tonight I’m staying in and taking it easy. Tomorrow I’m interviewing Brian Settles and Brad Linde, and then I hope to see two shows — a group with Brad featuring Jeff Cosgrove, and a solo acoustic performance by Joel Harrison. I think I’m also going to try to catch a bit of CapitalBop’s JazzLoft MegaFest. Then on Sunday I’m off to Richmond, Virginia.
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