SLEEP DEPRIVATION

Today I went to sleep at 6 and woke up at 10. Traveling sleep patterns are a strange thing for me--every time I go to a different time zone, I have a different experience. Last year when I was in Japan for about 5 weeks, I went to sleep at midnight and woke up between 4 and 5 am every night. I'd stay awake for about an hour, then get a few more hours of sleep and that kept up for the whole time I was there. When I first started going to Holland (for a week or so each trip), I'd often be awake most of the night for the second, third and fourth nights of the trip. Last year in Spain, I took Ambien every night for a week, and then noticed I was feeling edgier and edgier during the day, so I stopped taking it, stayed up all night and then fell into a normal sleep routine. Last April I was in France for 10 days and I slept 10 or more hours per night until the last night, and then I didn't sleep at all.

Sleep has always been a bit elusive for me. When I was a 4 or 5 years old, I insisted that I didn't sleep at all, since I never remembered the moment where I fell asleep. When I was about 11 though, I had a bout of insomnia that wasn't just my imagination. Fortunately for me, Korea is a pretty late night country. I mean, I am sure there are milk men or delivery guys who get up early but a lot of places seem to open up later than in the US. (One example: Lotte Department store opens at 10:30 in the morning). It really doesn't start humming until 8 or 9 at night. One exception: as I sit here writing these lines someone is brewing a Kim Chee out my window that could put down a moose.

Of course, everyone is different. When I was out with the great trumpet player James Zoller on several German tours with Cecil McBee's band, he was a source of envious fascination for me. We'd fly over, and he'd sleep the whole way over on the plane. Then the booker, Peter, would pick us up in his camper and James would be asleep from the moment he sat down until we arrived several hours later at the venue. Finally, we'd be backstage and James would be sitting in a folding chair waiting to go on, and he'd fall asleep again.

A high point for me had to be the one time I flew business class on Thailand Airlines from Bangkok to New York. The flight was 18 hours nonstop, but there were a number of things that worked in my favor. First, the plane left at midnight. Second, in Thai Air business class, the seats go all the way down to 180 degrees--flat and that makes all the difference. Anyway, I slept for 11 hours (Yes!) It was without a doubt the greatest experience of my life.