The Whole Music Experience

I still feel disappointed that no book publishers are publishing self-help books on music. They're no longer publishing books that tout music awareness either.  So I started a Go Fund Me campaign (the link is at the bottom) to continue my music research. And create a new avenue of getting this music consciousness information out to the world during a crucial shift on the planet. In the meantime, here is an excerpt from my book Whole Music (Soul Food for the Mind Body Spirit). I'll also be giving lectures and teaching workshops on music consciousness. If you feel that this work is important, even a five dollar donation helps. Raising Music Consciousness with Soul Music American soul music raised the social consciousness of African-Americans from giving African slaves a musical outlet in the early days, to liberation, and work songs after emancipation, to fueling the Civil Rights Movement, and then later, empowering people of color along with the “black is...

World/Jazz   Mulatu Astatke Sketches of Ethiopia   Jazz Village When I first started listening to world music, I heard a few Ethiopian jazz and sacred music recordings. Right away, I felt enticed by the exotic modes, scales, and polyphonic rhythms.   The music of Ethiopia possesses a distinct sound even when it’s melded to jazz, funk, and Latin music.   And it’s not the easiest music to describe either!   Pianist/Vibraphonist Mulatu Astatke gives listeners a music puzzle to solve and I even looked up traditional Ethiopian instruments featured on the recording (the Ethiopian flute, washint, traditional lyre, krar and the 1-string fiddle, masinco).   While the wildly delicious Sketches of Ethiopia falls into exoticism, any listener of world music will recognize echoes of Nigerian funk, American soul, Cuban beats and Ethiopian jazz because it’s all here and then some. The opener, Azmari warms up the ears with polyphonic beats, exotic ...