Measure The Music: Paul Simon’s “Late in the Evening”

By Jake Padilla

Measure 85: Absence!

As the rhythm section keeps things movin’ and the rest of the band drops out, the presence of the whole ensemble is firmly stated and understood on a higher level by the sound of only the “bare bones” of the music and later the reentry of the absent players.
I consider it God’s little gift, the ability to be absent but fully present at the same time.