Christian Sands’ 2020 record Be Water takes its title (and its central theme) from an interview with Bruce Lee, in which he advised his Canadian interviewer to be “like water. You put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle, it becomes the bottle. You put it into a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.”
Several songs from the album reference this quote, and water in general – “Crash”, “Steam”, and the two-part title track – but then there’s this one, the seventh of the record’s ten tracks.
It seems out of place. It’s the only cover song of the bunch, and the title seems at odds with the theme; water, after all, is famous for finding the low point, the path of least resistance…the way home.
On the other hand, Sands takes a song by a 60s rock supergroup and makes it work as a jazz trio showcase, so if the idea is to make the music take on the shape of its container, as Bruce Lee observed water likes to do, then he’s succeeded.
What makes this a beautiful song:
1. The main chord progression is a descending one, but it doesn’t descend chromatically or evenly. Less like a standard waterfall and more like rock-strewn rapids.
2. The percussionist adds several unpredictable elements – a shaker here, a quiet woodblock there, the occasional bell tree – to add to the feeling of a winding river.
3. As often happens in jazz covers, things get pretty hectic towards the end, but somehow the listener knows it’s all going to smooth over eventually.
Recommended listening activity:
Making little whirlpools in the bath.