The Whole Music Experience

When I suffer from anxiety attacks or fear in general, I listen to particular vocalists because their voices act like an audio massage. The tone and texture of voices differ for each of us. Some people find male voices more soothing, some find women's voices more soothing; some people enjoy the singular voice while others lift their vibration with vocal harmony. I find the African and the African-American vocals most soothing, followed by Native American vocals and then women's harmonies. But this all depends on the day and my circumstances as well as, the strength of the negative emotions I wish to relieve. Some times sacred music lifts me higher and other times I find comfort in a nostalgic pop song. Here's an example of an African song that soothes my anxiety by Samite When I was going through a particular rough time Native American musicians Mary Youngblood and Joanne Shenandoah came into my life (post 9-11). I recall listening to Youngblood's Under a ...

I'm re-posting this article which also appears in my book, Whole Music . For whatever reason, I woke up thinking about Samite today and the beautiful music he has graced us with. Add caption WM From the Heart of the African Bush: Conversation with Samite Mulondo Other journalists besides me have felt the soothing lullabies of Ugandan multi-instrumentalist Samite Mulondo. The storyteller -musician-humanitarian takes his audiences on journeys to the African bush and also deep into the human heart. Listening to his recordings provide an intimate musical experience and seeing Samite in concert provides a different type of emotional experience that opens eyes, ears and hearts. I first came across Samite when I was seeking African recordings to review for my former website, Cranky Crow World Music. Tunula Eno landed in my mailbox and as I listened to a beautiful set of songs I traveled through a gamut of emotions, from sweet humor to grief (the CD was dedicated t...

Samite Mulondo, Charles Evans, Jr., & Tony Cedras Trust Independent  I admit that I have sat on the recording Trust by Samite, Charles Evans, Jr. and Tony Cedras for over a month because I didn’t know how to frame the music on the CD.   First, and most important, Trust acts as a fundraising album for Samite’s nonprofit Musicians for World Harmony which brings music and music therapy to at-risk groups in Africa, mainly East Africa.   Second, the CD comes with a warning that the music that appears on the recording is from the movie Addiction Incorporated in which Samite composed the soundtrack.   And with all that gravity, you probably expect sad ballads with social messages, none of which you will find on this CD. The musicians mention in the press notes that they wanted to create a danceable African recording without drums.   And darn if you don’t want to get up and dance listening to these polyrhythmic songs that feature acoustic ...

WM From the Heart of the African Bush: Conversation with Samite Mulondo Other journalists besides me have felt the soothing lullabies of Ugandan multi-instrumentalist Samite Mulondo. The storyteller -musician-humanitarian takes his audiences on journeys to the African bush and also deep into the human heart. Listening to his recordings provide an intimate musical experience and seeing Samite in concert provides a different type of emotional experience that opens eyes, ears and hearts. I first came across Samite when I was seeking African recordings to review for my former website, Cranky Crow World Music. Tunula Eno landed in my mailbox and as I listened to a beautiful set of songs I traveled through a gamut of emotions, from sweet humor to grief (the CD was dedicated to his wife who died from brain cancer). A few years later, another Samite CD came my way—his seventh album, Embalasasa , named after a beautiful, yet poisonous lizard. According to Samite, today the pois...