Master Groove

Stratus: This is what it sounds like when musical masters get into a groove. In this modern version, keyboarding great George Duke and drumming legend Billy Cobham with Larry Kimpel laying down the killer bass groove. The song “Stratus” is one of the timeless tracks from the 1970’s Jazz Fusion genre which is still relevant today.

Above is the live band. Linked below is the original version recorded at Electric Lady Studios in the 1970s. The bass groove, performed by bass legend Leland Solar, is so prominent, which is a bit unusual since they are often layered lower and blended in the background.

Challenge your musical focus: The track is “noisy” with the guitar and keys dominating the high frequencies with whimsical soloing and wildly electrified sustaining notes. Since drummer Billy Cobham released this track, the drums are equally prominent. The snare drum is a classic reverberated crack (many say one of the best recorded snares ever).

The challenge is this: Listen closely to the bass groove. It is a simple repetitive section with slight variations. There is one small moment where the bass player diverts from the bass line - See if you can locate it. You’ll know it right when it appears, then the groove reverts back to the repetition. When I center myself in the bass I hear that detail of that diversion. If I’m focused properly, it gives me this feeling like I’m being drawn in and set on a path.

This exercise is a lesson in mental focus and resiliency. Warning: the guitar and keyboard sounds are shrill and totally uncomfortable, even for a musician like me that enjoys the complex arrangements of fusion jazz. View it as thinking outside the box and leaving the comforts of your safe echo chamber. Are you adept at listening to concepts which are different, possibly innovative, maybe repulsive?

As you listen, PASS THROUGH THOSE SOUNDS WITH YOUR MIND AND FOCUS ON THE BASS GROOVE. The groove is always there. It is steady and secure. Imagine the bass groove is a candle flame and the other instruments represent the volumetric randomness of a big city street. This musical score in ways is representative of real urban life; full of randomness and uncertainty, yet equally centered by a rigorous discipline that is a strong bass line. The bass section is like the safe passage through a hall of madness. Envelope your mind in that sonic range and stay there. Do not allow your mind to become distracted. Marvel at that steady groove’s various intricacies, modulations, and shifts. When you do this you are entering into a sort of awakened meditative state where you become one with a more dynamic representation of the human condition centered around the senses.

When we think of entering a peak meditative state we think of harmonizing with a quiet, serene environment where we seek to ignore or elevate our state above distractions. The focus I speak of seeks the same harmonious state as the calm version, but in complete immersion in a ultra intense and aggressive environment filled with a type of incoherent, loud, seemingly ignorant, lunacy.

Arriving in that state is analogous to a sword maker’s hammer. The bellowing furnace heats the steel. The hammering and folding of the metal creates a stronger material that is highly tempered. That tempering is increasing your mind’s resiliency in other ways and you become able to enter into that flow, or groove, for longer and longer stretches of time regardless of the surrounding environment. Merging with this flow is more keen to modern living. There are few places of true quiet and tranquility in the built environments we live in. Even going to a natural park entails other hikers and travelers. It’s very difficult to be lost and alone, even when you’re lost and alone! This lesson in chaotic immersion asks one self: how do I achieve inner quietness amid the pressures of external and virtual constructs?

In the past, I would achieve this flow state in smaller sections and exert energy to re-enter the flow. Now, I find myself flowing in longer sections with the ability to bridge interruptions with greater efficiency. I have created a combinatory process where I integrate the distraction into the flow. A distraction is only a distraction if you treat it as one. What if the distraction which causes you to disengage from the state of focus was more of a challenge desiring to enter the flow? When proceeding in this way, the distraction, or challenge, becomes a fully integrated element which is handled autonomously similar to a syncopated section produced by these great fusion bands. The groove is set, there is a flow established, the syncopation is engaged and integrated as a part of the composition - then, there is a realization and return to the original foundational groove. It has actually been quite remarkable.

Another interesting point is the actual bass line. I’ve played it and after a minute, your hand begins to burn. What I found is that the vigorous energy required to endure playing the bass line can only be found by entering into that type of flowing trance. Therefore, if you are able to achieve a level of listening focus with this bass line, you are actually experiencing the same flow that the bass player is maintaining while delivering the performance. This is an alternate perspective when “viewing” music. Instrumental music which can retain our focus gets us to feel with the senses through a type of concentration. Music with lyrics taps into our emotional qualities as we sift through the words that become representations of how we feel. One day, find your favorite lyrical song’s instrumental only version. Listen closely to the music, but make every attempt to block out the lyrics that are already common to you. When you do this, you might be able to discern if the music was the generative element that formed the lyrics, or it is possible, the lyrics were the poetry that formulated the music to support it.

So, with all that, I present to you a wonderful performance: Billy Cobham’s “STRATUS.”