Tracks: Memoirs from a Life with Music

by Peter Cherches

In these mini memoirs, Peter Cherches revisits musical experiences, pleasures, and obsessions that have punctuated his life. A singer and lyricist as well as "one of the innovators of the short short story" (Publishers Weekly), Cherches writes here from the perspective of a voracious listener for whom music is a constant companion. Whether reminiscing about the joys of musical discovery or paying tribute to musicians who have inspired him, Cherches shares his passions with verve and wit. From an early baptism in Beatlemania, to adolescent encounters with free jazz, to expeditions for local musical treasures around the world, this collection of singles in prose is a testament to the sustaining power of music in our lives.

68 pages, Paperback

Published May 4, 2012

Reviews

[Glenn Russell]

Tracks - Memoirs from a Life with Music - Brooklyn born and bred Peter Cherches shares twenty-one pieces of music he connected with, really connected with, in the course of his toe tapping life. Each piece is given its own mini-chapter, most appropriate since Peter is one of the leading practitioners of the mini - and that's mini as in mini-fiction also referred to as micro-fiction, short-shorts, poppers and snappers.

Tracks - "Cherches writes here from the perspective of a voracious listener for whom music is a constant companion. From an early baptism in Beatlemania, to adolescent encounters with free jazz, to expeditions for local musical treasures around the world, this collection of singles in prose is a testament to the sustaining power of music in our lives." These words from the book's back cover capture elegantly and succinctly what awaits a reader.

But enough with the generalizations. I'll cut to four cuts where I link my comments to direct Peter Cherches quotes:

The Beatles, "I Want to Hold Your Hand (1963)
"It was the musical perfect story: Beatlemania and a pair of eight-year-old ears." As Peter notes, age eight is about the time we begin to form our musical preferences. "Music becomes essential to our identities as well as the soundtrack of our generation." And Peter got into the music in a big way, spending a huge chunk of his allowance on records - The Beetles, The Rolling Stones, The Dave Clark Five, The Kinks, The Zombies among those topping the list.

The Temptations, 'I Wish It Would Rain' (1967)
"Before Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye ushered in the label's auteur period, my favorite Motown recordings were The Temptations." Thinking about the Temps and Motown, Peter once asked fellow musician Lee Feldmann what qualities make for a good lyric. Lee replied the key is strong visual imagery, a picture that can crystallize the sentiment. Allowing a few song lyrics to play in my own mind, I can see how true this is - that strong visual image, so powerful it can reach down and pierce our heart.

Bobby "Blue" Bland, "Ain't Nothing You Can Do"
"One of the most exciting shows I've attended was a samba club in Salvador, Bahia. Salvador was my favorite of four stops in Brazil, and I stayed in the old heart of the city, Pelourinho." Music is everywhere and since Brazilian music is one of his great passions, Peter was in heaven. Peter even ventured into one club where he was the only person in the crowd not a shade of black. But Peter became intoxicated with the high-energy music, the people laughing and dancing, the spirited atmosphere. Samba! Peter goes on to link his Brazilian travels to Chicago in the 1980s and the great blues singer Bobby "Blue" Bland, a provocative Cherches connection worth its musical weight in sambas and blues.

Anton Webern, "Six Bagatelles for String Quartet, Op. 9 (1913)
When it comes to classical music, Peter tends to be rather selective, finding the string quartet most compelling. Why? As a way of answering this question, Peter first cites an incisive Wikipedia article on string quartets that includes this passage: "The writer of string quartets must perforce concentrate on the bare bones of musical logic. Thus, in many ways the string quartet is pre-eminently the dialectical form of instrumental music, the one most naturally suited to the activity of logical disputation and philosophical enquiry." This nailed it for Peter since, in his own words: "The string quartet, in its very essence, displays the attributes I am devoted to in my writing."

Within the world of string quartet music, Peter is particularly fond of Webern's "Six Bagatelles for String Quartet," for several reasons, one of which is the composer uses space and silence as well as the actual notes and sounds of the four instruments. This string quartet inspired the title of what Peter considers his breakthrough as a writer, "a sequence of short prose pieces" he called "Bagatelles" written back in 1980. Peter goes on to share more detail on how and why "Bagatelles" influenced his life and writing, including the fact this breakthrough piece is part of his book entitled Lift Your Right Arm, which, appropriately enough, is the first line from his "Bagatelles."

I've highlighted only four cuts here. Pick up a copy of Tracks and treat yourself to the full measure of all twenty-one.


American author and performance artist Peter Cherches, born 1956

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best known for his irony-rich, emotionally close-to-the-vest, short-short, enigmatic fiction, in his new book, "Tracks, Memoirs from a Life with Music," Peter Cherches allows a measure of lyricism into his otherwise tart-tongued prose to relate memorable auditory trysts in a lifelong love affair with music in diverse modes. “It was the musical perfect storm: Beatlemania and a pair of eight-year-old ears,” the book begins. His tongue grows up along with his ears, grooving on the rarefied sounds of Miles Davis and John Coltrane and many a more obscure talent. Consider his sleek assessment of a performance by virtuoso soprano saxophonist Steve Lacy: “he slides around notes and sounds like a figure skater from another galaxy. Some might be tempted to reach for a can of 3-in One oil, but I find the performance wholly engaging.” Cherches kvells when describing being blown away by an unexpected opening act: “But when you see an artist about whom you have no preconceived notions, and they’re good, really good, it’s a kind of high, the joy of newfound love.” Himself a sometime singer and lyricist, the metaphor of the music played and sung by masters of various genres affords him the necessary distance to let down his guard. A riff, a trill, a string of notes, and a good lyric really turn him on. He goes bananas over a spicy number by Trinidadian Indian Soca singer Drupatee: “She pack up all her curry and she run away,/Leaving me to worry myself sick each day.” He revels in the closing lines of an original composition by New Orleans-born singer-songwriter Chris Smither: “In the end no one will sell you what you need,/ You can’t buy it off the shelf,/ You got to grow it from the seed…” Homegrown and potent, Cherches’ prose generously invites the reader to partake in his pleasure, like nary a professional music critics. Tracks sings. What more can you ask of a book!

[Greg Masters · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short memoir essays launched by particular tracks of music – from The Beatles to Monk to Webern et al. Each track sets off an encounter with the magnificence of the music as well as its triggers, including the author's wide travels to explore, always open to new sensations to allow the sounds to elevate him out of the ordinary. The pieces serve as prompts, too, allowing us readers to accompany the eager perceiver through some shared enthusiasms as well as unfamiliar but startling possibilities, all to enhance our time on earth.