Malcolm Burn: 1970 Memories of Music In Deep River
We were very fortunate to grow up in DR because arts and music was always accessible and encouraged. My first piano teacher was Mrs Gallant and she was an excellent teacher. Her son Pierre was a big inspiration and I remember going to see him play a piano recital when I was quite young and thinking that was a good aspiration.
Eventually I ended up with another great teacher named Horst Thumann. The great thing about Mr Thumann was that he once said " I will give you three pieces to study and you choose the one you feel the most emotionally connected to. I don't want you playing music you are not connected to otherwise it's a waste of time". I will always remember that.
The next major revelation for me was when my friend Pete Selander asked me to jam some blues. I was unsure how to do this because up to that point I only read music, so Pete showed me the basic 12 bar blues formula and voila!!! I was jamming! Thanks Pete!
During the third year at Mackenzie our teachers went on a prolonged strike. During this time I began playing the little upright piano in the school auditorium daily for hours on end, creating my own "epic" classical /blues /rock improvisations, often encouraged by an enthusiastic audience of off duty cleaning staff. . This I believe is where I first discovered writing music as a possibility. From there I joined up with Steve Blimkies band for a one off gig at the DR Arena mezzanine upon Steves request . I had by this point purchased a monophonic Moog synthesizer and I think they just wanted someone who could make weird noises!!!
I should add that the Komisar household was a hub for young aspiring musicians and both Dave and Andy K. were instrumental in my development as a musician. Fond memories of the Komisar basement jams!
The rest is , as they say, history.
Much love
MB
June 8, 2023
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