Bon idea Publishing

The radio was permanently on in my house as I was growing up. Back in the seventies, the main radio stations were plain and unimaginative, only playing French, Italian pop songs and a few American artists. They never played Motown or rock, blues or R and B, you know good stuff. This wireless device was really a sound filler providing a background noise.  Pop music, as far as I was concerned, was as glib as idle talks.  There was no moment I could be in a wow mode with a mouth wide opened. It was monotonous to say the least, very mechanical and uninspiring. It was good for socialising, drinking or dancing I suppose. For me it was lacking a soulful factor.  It was not showcasing an artist in his prime playing an awesome solo that could take your breath away. It was shallow like a puddle devoid of interest and spiritually value.  Additionally, the singer was the pop artist, the “idol”. It seems the music did not matter anyway. It was all the same until, magic came into my life, during a class lesson, a teacher played a classical record. It was Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf Opus 73, from Little Red Hood. It blew me away because it had great depth, attitude, boldness and soul to it. It was telling a story in 3 dimensions; it had intention to hit the listener and put him there. It opened my universe, broke my boundaries, and made me understand the power of this aesthetic medium that was music able to communicate anything on a creative and profound level.  I wanted to express myself thereupon using a creative palette.

Music is communication. You can understand it. The most talented artists are the ones who put intention on what they do. A musician hits a note, this note tells a million of things. That is what I am talking about. It really does; the artist really was intending to affect an audience. This note really did something. It was carried by a wavelength; it had a quality and peculiarity. It was like magic. 

What I like about blues or any good music is the fact that an artist, an human being that is, has put intention in his playing and taking break. He can create each sound, phrase, and piece with choice – deliberately. He plays what he likes, not like-not by what someone else will think. He uses contrast and balance the elements: high/low, fast/slow, loud/soft, tense/relaxed, dense/sparse. These artists are special and can wow audiences for decades. In this game of who is better or not as a guitarist, let’s consider the god given skills of an artist putting himself out there. It is not a competition to be the best, it is a matter of communicating on a spiritual plane if you like. Clapton never thought of himself as being the best, nor did Jimi Hendrix, nor did many great musicians and artists.  They are going this job for another purpose, competing is not. That is why I love music and certain artists because I can rise above the stormy clouds every so often with their artistry. What about you? What makes you tick?   What do you feel?