I’ll admit I’d never heard of Georges Paczynski before seeing this interview posted in my Facebook feed by the great street drummer, Oded Kafri. Paczynski talks about his love for jazz, for drumming and his philosophical outlook regarding pedagogy, human nature and the art of mastering oneself. The appearance of the interview coincided with a couple of students commenting on the philosophical nature of drum lessons so it seems quite apt to add here.
This, I quote from the early part of the interview:
And this vertical gesture when you play, as a drummer, this striking movement that a freudian might interpret as a gesture to kill the father while the sound goes up to the eternal mother, and which, for a Jungian is a balance between the animus and the anima that is, a compromise between killing with this gesture, common to all civilisations and building, like the artisan who builds and at the same time kills and destroys.
What’s not to love?
Watch and enjoy.