I Had to Share This Conversation Between Alex and Me...

I hope you are all well! It's early Thursday morning as I start to put those words down, sitting in what I call my office. The whole place is usually quiet before 8am, still spared from the energy level of what Alex calls the “Noise Factory”, in reference to all the up-tempo life that goes on in the building the closer we get to 9am… Then it’s full-volume conversations about ideas, daily news, music, sports, politics, and much more.

I just got off the phone with Alex, who is now back to his home in the middle of the Virginia Highlands. It’s always strange for me when he goes away, as we’re usually always together. We are the type of friends who call each other in the middle of the night to discuss projects or to invite the other for a coffee to talk about an idea. So it’s somehow strange to talk to him on the phone while he usually arrives in my office every morning, preceded by loud music emanating from an awful-sounding iPad and followed by his faithful companions Leonard and MacKaye… The minute he arrives, everybody knows the day can go in all sorts of crazy directions!

Regardless of the distance, which is only a concept when you truly have a bond with someone, I think it’s good for him to take a moment to breathe just a little once again. It is very astonishing for us to be at this very precise moment in our lives... I would have never predicted, 14 months ago, that Alex’s first public appearance since he had left for Tangier about 3 years earlier would be one of the most anticipated concerts of the whole 40th-anniversary edition of the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal. I probably knew more than anyone that it was one thing to see Alex’s concert posters all over the city and another one to actually see him on stage that night… I know the man...!

That’s why it’s very special for me to simply take a moment to look back at it… Not only for me, but to look at the journey it has been for everyone involved, to muse at everything we experienced, at what we went through before and after what I personally identify as Alex accepting what I have always believed he was since we first met almost two decades ago; a special, unique, and soulful artist… He will probably hate me for putting him under the spotlight, but being so close sometimes makes us forget the major emotional struggles he had to deal with in order to not only share his album with the world, but to expose himself like he did through it. This is why, for me, there’s a before and an after the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal. Everything that occurred between that moment and until playing “Windows in The Sky” in its entirety through our Upper Room Studio Sessions has set the motion to whatever may come after… It also reminds me that our last European tour title couldn’t have been better: “A Slow Pace of Peace to Come”…

As strange as it may sound, I think I now understand a little more what the title may have meant for him at the time - even though there’s no such thing as “slow” in our lives. It’s been a long time coming, and crafting a path of your own is never easy; it’s as confusing and frustrating as it is disorienting and heartbreaking at times. Alex told me a long time ago, when we were in the middle of a community crisis, that the true reward is never in the accomplishment itself but in knowing you have decided to grow beyond your own faith and desires to get everybody “home”, that the rest is only a mix of good or bad luck, of gasps or denials. It sounded cryptic at the time, but sitting here today, sharing those words with you without any filter, it kind of makes sense to me, especially as we are looking ahead, wondering what our next destination could be.

It’s funny because for Alex, it never really is about the destination, but more about the journey. What’s next is never a simple question with him... And this morning's phone call was no exception! I told him what many of you share with me, how appreciative you are of his letters, blogs, and insights, but also how several of you keep suggesting that he creates some sort of a publication regarding “Windows in the Sky” as a whole, which would include the stories behind the songs, just like he recently shared for “Lavender Sky” and “Snowflakes in July”, as much as reflections, and so on. I reminded him just how filled with pictures our phones are, the many interviews he did for several magazines and blogs around the globe, and the many different texts he wrote that have never been published anywhere… He didn’t say a word… which means I got him thinking!

I added: “You know, brother, it’s not about closing something... I know we kept saying that it’s the “end of a chapter” but you keep telling us that we need to remember all the nuances of the motion through which we grow from a moment to another. Maybe it could be very significant to share that living testimony, to reflect on the amazing and soulful moments exposed through every step of this incredible trip between the moment you checked-in at the Montreal airport to go to Tangier, and the moment you came back to this very same airport at the end of our last tour. All the joys, the hard times, the smiles, the tears, the sun and the rain and all of what’s in between… I’ll leave it to you, but maybe it’s something you could consider… A form of picture book of that unique voyage..." Yes, I can be very insistent, especially when I know it would be a very special visual insight on the journey. He laughed… which means I got his attention!

He changed the subject back to the upcoming watch party and how awkward it was for him to sleep in his own bed after almost 6 months living on the road. He then said he would take the time to consider my suggestion to “transition” more naturally to whatever may come next... We hung up laughing. I asked him to write about something about the song “The Love That Moves (The End Is Beginning)”. He told me, a smile in his voice: “With everything you ask me to do, you will have me write that book piece by piece without me knowing! Let me think about it...” Which means I really got him considering the idea now!

We laughed some more and I told him more seriously that I was proud of him and wanted to remind him that, since he is now back home, to at least make sure he wasn’t missing out on the opportunity of doing a book like he wrote about Your Favorite Enemies' album “Between Illness and Migration”. I believe it was a magnificent testimony of a moment in time for him and the band, but obviously, I will stand by him if he is ready to move on already… I'm conscious that he’s being asked to reflect on desperation, grief, and sorrows ever since he initially released “Windows in the Sky” in Canada in November of 2018. He keeps insisting that his album was mainly a journey about going to the end of his own darkness in order to find hope and light, a reason to believe. And it might be just what we all need now…

SNOWFLAKES IN JULY WATCH PARTY

Just a quick reminder that Alex will be live this Sunday, 9am Eastern Time, for the “Snowflakes in July” Watch Party! Alex will be answering questions as we’ll watch the live concert we did on July 26 all together!

Don’t forget the concert also featured a new song, called "Sorrows (If Only I Had Known)" as well as “The Love That Moves (The End Is Beginning)”, and of course “Snowflakes In July”.

Please, feel free to send me any questions you might have for Alex by replying to this email! Alex usually shares some exclusive scoops during those Watch Party, so you don’t want to miss that!

Take good care! Stay healthy and hopeful!
See you all Sunday!

Your friend and host,
Jeff