{"id":10277,"date":"2018-09-20T17:02:48","date_gmt":"2018-09-21T00:02:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/?p=10277"},"modified":"2018-09-21T11:04:49","modified_gmt":"2018-09-21T18:04:49","slug":"whatever-happened-to-mr-p-c","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/2018\/09\/whatever-happened-to-mr-p-c\/","title":{"rendered":"Whatever Happened To Mr. P.C.?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n<\/a>Mr. P.C., the musical and digital counterpart of the print world\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Dear Abby<\/em>, continues to dispense wisdom on the web by way of Facebook<\/em>. On occasion, we steal from him. So far, Mr. P.C.\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s legal watchdogs have not taken us to court. Here is a bit of knowledge he shared today with an inquiring musician.<\/p>\n

Dear Mr. P.C.:<\/p>\n

When people in the audience are talking, it goes without saying that they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not listening to the band. But for the rest of the audience, how do you know when they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re actually listening as opposed to just thinking about something else altogether? \u00e2\u20ac\u201dUnheard in Utah<\/p>\n

Dear Unheard:<\/p>\n

Any jazz musician used to scanning the audience will tell you that there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an identifiable \u00e2\u20ac\u0153active listening\u00e2\u20ac\u009d posture: Eyes closed, face gently smiling, head bent down and nodding slightly, as if in agreement with the music.<\/p>\n

The ability to listen this way grows with maturity\u00e2\u20ac\u201djust look at retirement home audiences. Not only do they assume the posture throughout the concert; often they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re so deeply moved that they maintain it long after the band has headed home.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Mr. P.C. has been known to shed his counselor guise and appear in public as the Seattle pianist Bill Anschell. He did that here with Idaho saxophonist and frequent Mr. P.C. collaborator Brent Jensen.<\/p>\n

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