Music is what life sounds like!

"Music is what life sounds like." -Eric Olson

I saw this quote the other day and loved it! Not knowing who Eric Olson is, I did the obligatory Google search and surmise that the author of the quote is Singer, Songwriter, Guitarist Olson...not Economist Olson or Professor of Stem Cell Research Olson or Admiral Olson of the United States Navy. In any event, the quote kind of sums up my feelings about music.

It was my Mother who initially introduced me to and nurtured my deep love and appreciation for music. She certainly loved all kinds of music, played it beautifully on the piano and was always playing it on the radio, the hi-fi and later on the stereo. She even started me on piano lessons when I was a pre-schooler and I could actually read music before I could read a book! My meager abilities were developed enough over the years that I could fake some semblance of talent - Given the melody and the chords, I learned to improvise so that it actually sounded like I was a pretty decent musician. What nobody told me was that is how Jazz musicians actually play!

Maybe that is why my favorite genre of music is Jazz...I love the Great American Songbook, Standards and inventive Jazz interpretations. Although the soundtrack of my pre-teen and teen years was R&B, Motown, Elvis and The Beatles, I was a secret fan of Sinatra, Bennett, Streisand, Nat King Cole, Ella and others that were more popular in the 40's and 50's. Most people I knew were into straight Rock or in some instances the Pop-Folk, Singer-Songwriters of the day like Simon and Garfunkel, James Taylor and Carole King. And I enjoyed those musicians as well, but never was much into the hard, acid rock genres of music. Later I discovered Miles, Coltrane, Thelonious, Brubeck, Ellington, Herbie Hancock, Bill Evans, Oscar Peterson and more. My love of their music lead me to artist like Keith Jarrett, Benny Green, Marcus Roberts, Christian McBride, Brad Meldhau and others. The best thing about listening to all of these artists is that every time you listen, there seems to be something new you haven't heard before. When I started to collect Jazz music, I was advised that the one essential album in any collection HAD to be "Kind of Blue" by Miles Davis....still, today, always on the top selling Jazz Album list at ITunes. I have listened to this album several hundred times and never tire of it - it is as near to perfection as any music album can be.

However, I have not limited myself to just Jazz Instrumentals and The Great American Songbook. On my IPod (one of the greatest inventions of all time!), I currently have 6,388 songs from Jazz, R&B, Rock, Pop, Indie singer-songwriters, Standards, African, World, New Age, Folk, Blues, Alternative, Country, Big Band, Soundtracks and Classical. (What I don't have is Hip-Hop or Rap, since I believe those are mostly poetry set to a beat - not really music. Yes, I am a music snob!) I have artists from Aaron Arinito to Zee Avi; Songs from A-Tisket, A-Tasket to Zombie Jamboree; and Albums from After Hours to Zee Avi. To listen to every note, it would currently take me 19.9 days of straight through listening. But that's not how I listen....I listen based on my mood. I have created play lists for Bedtime, Exercise, Working, and just generally hanging out. I have themed play lists like keyboards, Dixieland, Oldies, Jazz Vocals, Classical and Standards. Most often though, I set the Ipod on shuffle and enjoy the surprise of not knowing what song will come next. Listening to music - even if it is just background - is a great way to lose yourself in what you are doing.

One of my favorite music endeavours is the hunt for new artists that nobody has ever heard of and then introducing them to family and friends. I have found artists early in their careers like Diana Krall, Madeline Peyroux, Jamie Cullum, Corinne Bailey Rae, Zee Avi, Hiromi, Renee Olstead, Nikki Yanofsky, Peter Cincotti and Yael Naim. What fun it is to introduce these unique talents to others and then even get some, such as Adele, in return. Recently, I have re-introduced myself to Classical Music by downloading The 50 Most Essential Pieces of Classical Music from ITunes. What a delight to listen to this eclectic collection of the classics - my Mom is smiling somewhere every time I play them!

The Guiness Book of Records says that the most covered piece of music - that is, the song that has been recorded the most - is Yesterday by The Beatles. Others disagree and say that Amazing Grace and White Christmas top the list. Interestingly, on my IPod, these don't even make the Top 25! In fact, I only have 3 recordings of Yesterday by The Beatles, Ray Charles and David Grusin; 5 recordings of Amazing Grace by such diverse artists as Elvis, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Pete Fountain, The Preservation Hall Jazz Band and Sam Cooke and none of White Christmas. (As an aside, I don't have Dreidle, Dreidle either!) My Number 1 recorded song is Over The Rainbow, the song introduced in 1939 by Judy Garland in The Wizard of Oz. Why have 26 versions of the same song? Well, I didn't set out to do that...it just seems that artists that I enjoy feel the need to include this classic on their albums. Of course, I have the original by Ms. Garland, but it might not even make my Top 5 in terms of enjoyment. Each version has something different to offer. The soul full rendition by Ray Charles or the innocence of Jane Monheit or the interpretive version by Erroll Garner or the deeply-felt version by Eva Cassidy or even the Israel Kamakawiwo'ole smash-up version with What A Wonderful World all make the song sound unique - that's what is so cool about music - it is what you make of it. By the way, the other most appearances on my Ipod are the Hoagie Carmichael classic, Stardust, Harold Arlen's I've Got The World On A String followed closely by George Gershwin's Summertime.

As I write this, I have been grooving on many different tunes ranging from Count Basie's One O'Clock Jump to Harry Connick, Jr.'s Lofty's Roach Souffle - one of my all-time favorite instrumental jazz albums. Most people don't realize the diversity of Mr. Connick's talents and although I enjoy his vocals, his Jazz Instrumentals are quite incredible! One should listen to all different types of music and they will find that "Music speaks what cannot be expressed, soothes the mind and gives it rest, heals the heart and makes it whole, flows from heaven to the soul." (Author Unknown)

So, if Music Is What Life Sounds Like, then my life must be a diverse, colorful, inventive, soulful, jazzy, improvisational and classic life..I'll take it!

And The Journey Continues.........