Phil Keaggy, a Masterful Musician

My friend Julie waxed eloquent the other day in journaling her response to the U2:3D film that she recently saw. (As far as I know, it's not showing around here, though I note that "Hannah Montana in 3D" has had its run extended and may present itself as a worthy rival to U2 for the title of "most emotions generated by a 3D movie experience in 2008"... with very little audience overlap, I should mention.)

I respect U2 as a band and as a cultural institution, but for a number of reasons, my personal bond with them isn't even close to what a lot of other folks feel. That's all rather beside the point, except to serve as an introduction to this concert review of Phil Keaggy & band, who performed last night at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, MI. My wife Julie and I have seen Phil perform many times over the years - I suppose that I'd be correct in saying that I've seen him play live more than I have any other musician in the world, other than my kids who were in marching band and some of the punk rock bands that I used to hang out with back in the early 80s. We started going to Keaggy shows back in 1994, 95 or so, though we'd been listening to Phil's records since we were married in 1984. He represented the perfect meeting point between my adventurous musical tastes and Julie's interest in edifying, uplifting and expressly Christian songwriting. Phil has been widely regarded as one of the most accomplished guitar virtuosos in the world, regardless of religious affiliation or any other category one might wish to impose. He's pursued many styles over his long and prodigious career - he and a few others can rightly take credit for inventing contemporary Christian rock and pop music (but please don't blame him for what it's become in recent years!) I could elaborate quite a bit on the interesting twists and turns his musical journey has taken him but instead, I'll just focus on what happened last night. It was a very special evening, a singular concert that stands out distinctly from the dozen or so other times we've been privileged to hear him make his music in person.

The event was a recreation, live on stage, of what has proven to be the biggest selling album of his career, an instrumental release titled "The Master and the Musician." 2008 marks the 30th anniversary of this record. Though it may not be exactly a "household word" compared to a lot of other records released in 1978 (think "Saturday Night Fever," "Some Girls" and "Darkness on the Edge of Town") it's fair to characterize TMATM as a breakthrough release that set a lot of other things in motion. It was the first "Christian music" release that dared express its message not in words but in the sheer emotive power of the instrumental playing itself. This was a controversial and unprecedented thing, so much so that the record company felt compelled to have an allegorical narrative story printed up and included in the album's initial release so that an overt "gospel message" would be conveyed to the audience. When the album/CD was re-released in 1989, the story was dispensed with since it really had nothing to do with the music itself. (This caused some consternation among some of Phil's fans, and from what I've heard, the story is actually pretty well-written. But I've never read it.)

This focus on music for music's sake opened the door for what I regard as a more mature sense of aesthetics within Christian-oriented arts and music in general. The album can be seen as an essential step away from the cloying and often corny efforts at proselytizing that still makes a lot of overtly Christian expressions hard to appreciate. Now it's important to say that this didn't represent a theological back-pedaling on Phil's part (he remains very "Jesus-centered" in his message, lyrics and life-style.) But he created an important open space where words became secondary in conveying meaning and stirring emotions in the listener.

Beyond the lack of words, there's the music itself, which is extraordinarily warm, evocative, intricate and pleasing to the ear. I've appreciated this particular recording for many years, but I think hearing him and his band recreate the songs in sequence and on stage, my assessment of TMATM as a work of art has moved from "enjoyment" to "awe." Phil has recorded numerous instrumental albums over the years, some more simple and plainly acoustic, others more rocking, jamming, electrified affairs. A lot of his more recent stuff has the feel of highly inspired, technically proficient improvisation, which is brilliant enough on its own terms. But TMATM is clearly a highly thought-out, carefully composed and complex work of art containing many passages that sit elegantly in place like fine gems laid out for display. He put a lot of work into layering guitar parts, incorporating a variety of effects and production techniques and pacing the moods of the music in a way that takes the careful listener on a deeply satisfying journey - and it makes very pleasant background music too if that's what's desired!

In order to bring this music to life in person, Keaggy assembled a wonderful band, probably the best combo I've ever seen him perform with. A lot of his shows are just him, a guitar and his collection of pedals, E-bows and such, but I've also seen him with a band on several occasions. Last night, there were at times, five different guitarists playing unique parts, along with a drummer/percussionist, a keyboard player and a woman who played flutes and other wind instruments, as well as supplying the female voice sounds that Phil's wife Bernadette contributed to the original recording. It was oh so much to take in, and it got me hoping that Phil decides to release a DVD of one of these concerts when this brief 17-date mini-tour is done.

Having lived with this music, absorbing it innumerable times ever since I purchased the CD in the early 90s, actually hearing it performed in person sent me on a contemplative and sentimental journey as I reflected on what's gone on in my own life over those years. I know that the tunes and melodies that Phil came up with grew out of some very deep personal challenges that he and his wife had faced in the preceding years. They had lost five children (yes, five) to miscarriage or very early death and were still childless at the time of its recording. They went on to have three children in subsequent years, who are all now young adults, but at the time, there was a lot of grief and melancholy that fueled Keaggy's songcraft. Things that words can't express, which is another reason for the instrumental approach. But tempering those heavier feelings was an underlying theme of hope, joy and resolution to continue forward in the face of great disappointment. Though his situation was particular and personal, the music he created connects deeply with many of us who face our own version of those struggles that informed his musical vision. The auditorium he performed in last night was filled with many people whose lives have had a Keaggy-inspired musical soundtrack for decades (and a lot of younger people checking out Phil for perhaps the first, but likely not the last, time!) Grand Rapids was the second stop on this tour (he was in Cincinnati on Friday night!) and this town, or West Michigan in general, is pretty much a given whenever he sets out to tour the country.

For many years, Phil has championed the cause of Compassion International. Often at some point of the show, he will mention his connection with this organization that cares for orphaned and oppressed children in poor areas of the world. We've heard a lot of appeals but never taken him up on the invitation to sponsor a child. But that changed last night. During the intermission, Julie and I decided to bring a new child into our family, now that our own kids are pretty much grown up. We talked to one of the volunteers and decided to sponsor the child whose packet was presented to us. His name is Wendinmi Ouedraogo. He's seven years old and lives in the CIE Dassasgo TBI Child Development Center in Burkina Faso. I will have more to say about him and this new interest in future blog posts!

After the intermission, Keaggy and band performed a bunch of old favorites, straightforward and relatively simple pop and rock numbers that, while skillfully performed and perfectly entertaining in their own right, only served to emphasize the brilliance of TMATM. I would have been perfectly satisfied to limit the program to the album recreation, but this was all just icing on the cake, and a nice chance to hear the band cut loose on songs I've heard him perform solo on many occasions.

So there's my concert review. I highly recommend that you get a copy of "The Master and the Musician" if you're not familiar with the album and these thoughts have stirred some curiosity. A nice 30th anniversary edition has just been released - the original recording has been remastered (not that it really needed it) and a second disc has out-takes, commentary from Phil on each song, and numerous remixes that provide an alternative listening experience to what they decided on for the final product. Here's the website if you wanna check it out!