While in some ways, the sessions are only important to me, and perhaps, other musicians who walked the road with me through the years, I have lately arrived at this place where I cannot afford to hoard anymore. And besides as I get older I am questioning the value of these sessions which happened many years ago in some cases, and more recent ones which I have only listened to once.  Presently I find myself debating their relevance and value.

Sure I can switch on a memory of a jam session and or a studio recording as soon as I hear the audio. Some of the people in the session are no longer living, so there is the sentimental value of good memories. To me audio is more effective in recalling a memory then a photograph. To hear a voice make a comment or a person laughing or someone directing or singing or a special riff  or a harmony arrangement, has more value than seeing their printed image. The other strange association with audio is that, the sound makes you see the person as you last knew them.

As many musicians know, in this business you get to meet and work with a lot of people, some of whom you might not see again or scarcely. Some you see often but they have advanced and progressed to a stage which does not identify them anymore with that session which you recorded of them in the 70’s or beyond.

The other reason is that we all move on and progress in our lives and in my case I tend to look at work which goes beyond a certain time, as history, and of purely nostalgic and somewhat  irrelevant to the present.  But is the present all that matters? Or should one still keep ties to his past in the process of moving forward?

Some of the sessions I was involved in over the years still stand up and I am still proud to be associated with them. I am not sure whether the fun of the sessions is more important than the actual sound itself, but never the less when I put them on in the presence of those who took part, there seems to be a general consensus of their level of achievement, even though all those listening recognise their flaws of immaturity in their playing at that time. But the rawness is there.

And that is another point which interests me. Many cultured and expended players admitted to me that while they got better as they aged, they lost that fire and edge with maturity. Sure their playing is smoother now, but their need for speed and attack before one reaches a certain maturity as a player is gone.

So if I throw away the accumulated audio tapes all this will be gone forever. But is it worth keeping them if you have not got the time to listen to them?

Do we really need to be defined by our past???

The thought of more space is too enticing, but the fear of regret after the act is done is weighing very hard on my mind.

Shall I?... Shall I not?...Shall I... Shall I not?

Hmmm... leave it till tomorrow!