Appreciating Music I Don't Like At All.

 

I am a fan of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.  I think he has more heart and than most celebrities, and he really found his voice on the show once Trump got elected. One of the reasons I enjoy the show is the presence of Jon Batiste and Stay Human - a terrific group of superstar musicians that amaze me every time I tune in. 

I was a bit surprised recently when a featured guest on the Colbert show was Michael Buble'. I have heard snippets of this fellow's music and did not like it at all. He struck me as the musical equivalent of American cheese (although he is a proud Canadian). Processed, manufactured, packaged in plastic, inauthentic - yuck. He also covers songs that I love when performed by others - he does a somewhat flat version of "You Don't Know Me" by the great songwriter, Cindy Walker, which was covered by Ray Charles . Brother Ray's cover is the definitive version for me.  Buble's cover of "Feelin' Good" is a bland experience when compared to the awesome version of this tune that was done by Nina Simone in the mid-60's. I judged Michael as the Pat Boone of his generation. Boone did awful covers of great songs originally performed by Black R&B/rock & roll artists - "Ain't That A Shame" by Fats Domino, "Tutti Frutti" by Little Richard, and so on. Boone was exploiting the work of the original artists.

But Michael Buble' has pipes.

He can definitely sing. He has come up with a product that lots of people like - it introduces folks to music that they might not know about. And he came from nothing - he's the son of a commercial fisherman. I admire him. He deserves respect. I shouldn't be such a judgmental jerk.

I think it's good to be a musical omnivore. I play instruments that are off the beaten path - harmonica and trombone -so I listen to lots of weird stuff.  Classical music, jazz, blues, R&B, funk, rock, hip-hop, country, Latin music, Irish music, Bangla music and all the other genres coming from cultures in Africa and Asia - it all is worthwhile. I love Dolly Parton, Snarky Puppy & Little Nas X. I am trying to listen to the stuff I don't like - it expands my spirit and with music, there is always more to learn.

Five Songs for 2020

 

It is six days before Christmas.  I don't know about you, but our Christmas will be modest and a little weird.  We will be having a very small gathering of folks that are "in our bubble" - a handful of family members.  Many family members and friends will be absent as we follow the recommended novel coronavirus protocols.  I am not complaining - we are very lucky because we have been healthy through the Covid-19 crisis (for the most part).  I know a couple of folks that died of Covid and it is a horrible, lonely way to die.

Whenever I feel messed up, I turn to music for solace.  The spirit that allows us to create music is the spirit that I view as my Higher Power.  It is an incredible, mysterious expression of humanity that allows us to connect and love each other.  I have made a short list of five songs that helped me through the year, and I hope that they might help you, too.

• Hold on by Tom Waits:  This is a brooding, heartfelt song filled with real poetry, delivered in Waits' raspy, whiskey soaked baritone. "Oh you build it up, you wreck it down; then you burn you mansion to the ground." That's killer.  And, man, we all need to hold on right now as this Covid crisis pounds against us.
• You Haven't Done Nothing by Stevie Wonder:  One of Stevie's angriest songs, as relevant now as it was in 1974 when he released "Fulfillingness First Finale."  And you can still dance to it
• You Were Cool by the Mountain Goats (John Darnielle):  John Darnielle has a way with stories.  I think everyone knows someone that might have been the subject of this song.  I can think of several people that lived these lyrics. Bittersweet stuff, and since we have time to think during this pandemic, this song helps me to remember people I have forgotten  for a while.
• America The Beautiful by Ray Charles: Brother Ray turns this old song into a real hymn to our nation.  He performed this at the 2001 World Series, right after 9/11.  Lest we forget, this is still a great country, in spite of the mess we are in right now.
• I Wish That I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free:  The great jazz pianist and educator, Billy Taylor, wrote this song, but Nina Simone owns it.  This is another song that remains as relevant today as it was in the 1960's. Nina was a ferocious performer, channeling her bipolar illness into the highest art imaginable.  Watch this video to the end to see her drop the mic like a boss!

I hope these songs lift your spirits a little bit during this strange holiday season. Music is a healer, and we can all use some healing right now.

Stayin' In and Catching Up

It is a chilly Saturday night in Chicagoland, the last day of February. The Mystery Band had no gig this evening. I thought about hitting the clubs to hear some of my buddies play, but my energy failed me - I stayed home with my girls and my dogs (the picture above is a demon-eyed version of Jenna and Brandy, the house canines). There was a big pile of mail that I ignored all week; it is now processed and dealt with. I got on YouTube and called up President Obama's February 24th speech to Congress, which I was too busy to watch live. Whooooo! That dude sure can speechify. I bought a big 120 gig iPod to replace the one that was lost/stolen at the Evanston YMCA. It took a long time to synch the 10,000 songs in my library to the new device. Now I am enjoying Nina Simone in my earbuds. I paid bills. I started getting my 2008 tax return organized. I had a couple of adult beverages. I practiced on my E-flat chromatic harmonica. I basically stayed in and fiddled around. Now it is almost midnight and I am ready to sleep.

I feel schizophrenic. On a personal level, I feel pretty optimistic. There is no discernible disaster lurking. My day job is OK because my little company is nimble and we are finding ways to make money in spite of the economic crisis. But then I read the papers, or talk to my friends that work at big companies, or listen to the news and I feel pretty pessimistic. This economy hasn't hit bottom yet. The massive debt reduction that is going on ("de-levering" is the business buzz word) is unlike anything we have seem in well over a generation. The savings rate of the average American is moving quickly from negative 1% to positive 10% (10% was close to the average in the 1960's through the mid-1980's). This process will mean a whole lotta pain - less spending, more debt defaults, higher unemployment. But the only way out of this is through it.

As I said earlier, I am ready to sleep. Goodnight.