Vinnie Vidi, Vici

I added an And... to the blog because I was beginning to feel that Words And Music couldn't cover everything there was to write about.

But then along comes drumming legend Vinnie Colaiuta (pictured) and explains how "thought is the enemy of flow".

In answering the question what does he think about when he is playing, he goes beyond philosophy and seems to chime with the teachings of Jiddhu Krishnamurti on the role of thought.

Colaiuta says in the latest issue of Modern Drummer magazine: "The answer is basically: nothing. Thought happens in a completely different way out of flow. Out of flow, it's contemplative and analytical and problem-solving. In flow, it's completely different. It's like a real-time programme running in the background that doesn't interfere with what's going on. The ability to adapt in a given moment is beyond the scope of another type of focused thought process."

Whether Colaiuta is familiar with Krishnamurti's teaching, I don't know. Whether he is or not is irrelevant, since he has got to a similar place (although Colaiuta is talking about drumming, while Krishnamurti is talking about the whole of living): the assignment of thought to its "proper" role — "in flow" rather than dominating, separating, judging, creating images, creating the self, creating pasts and futures...

This truly meditative aspect of playing must apply to other instruments. But was it not the ancient sage Ginger Baker who once said: "Sometimes you're not playing the drums... the drums are playing you."