The Whole Music Experience

  I t's been a long while since I shared a musical post with you. Today, I'm thinking about music that blew my mind or caused me to swoon. I have heard thousands of songs during my life time from various genres. And every song leaves an impression but not as big an impression as the following ten songs. 1). Prelude to the Afternoon of the Faune by Claude Debussy I heard this song the first time when I was on college break. I was bored and I rummaged through my mother's record collection. Since I had taken a music appreciation class I wanted to listen to classical music even though I was more into rock music. I found the record with Claude Debussy's Prelude to the Afternoon of the Faune. Not knowing what a faune was and what a prelude to the afternoon might entail, I placed the record on the old-fashion turntable. When the first strains of the harp came through the speakers I nearly fainted because the music was sheer beauty to my ears. Two decades later, I rediscovered ...

Wikipedia Soulful lions Often we feel empty and we look to food to satisfy our craving or we escape into another type of addiction. Sometimes we feel disconnected from the life around us or we lose our connection to our Divine Source, whatever name you want to call it.  During those times, I recommend indulging in soul music, a term that came about in the 1960s or 1970s that categorized songs of African-American musicians. Roots for soul music vary going all the way back to the Mandinka and other ancient African kingdoms or most recently to the African-American Church or "Black Church" while finding inspiration from African-American spirituals, blues, jazz, and gospel (not be confused with spirituals).  Some of the favorite artists to come from the genre include Stevie Wonder, Al Green, Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye, Diana Ross and the Supremes, Earth Wind and Fire, the Commodors, Bill Withers... The songs reached deep into our souls allowing us to feel an array of emoti...

Stevie Wonder Innervisions Motown/Universal (1973) Ah, Stevie, how did I forget you for so many years? I grew up with Stevie Wonder music surrounding me.   Then when I was in college, I took a dance class and our final performance featured Sir Duke .   However, after I discovered alternative rock, I stopped listening to soul music, and poor Mr. Wonder was relegated to the back closets of my mind.   That was until a few months ago when I heard Sir Duke playing the background at the food coop.   Stevie was back and just in time, since now I decided to include a chapter on soul music for my book-in-progress, Whole Music . Oh, I’m enjoying this. When Stevie released Innervisions in 1973 I was in grade school, but I heard the gritty socio-commentary Living for the City , the catchy Don’t You Worry “Bout a Thing , and the funky Higher Ground on a pop radio station.   However, at the time I did not recognize Wonder’s musical genius.  ...