Let There Be Music

Without music my life would be an empty shell. Music has been the virtual soundtrack for my life. Music has provoked thought. Given me pause. Taken me way from the drab, dull, mean ol’ world. Filled my heart with gut wrenching emotion. Made me smile. Laugh. Gives me hope for a better tomorrow while pointing a finger at what ails us, shining a light where light is needed. Music has been my psychiatrist, my mistress, my mentor, all rolled into one. Music continues to inspire me, challenge me, awaken in me the slumbering beast who has an endless appetite for everything this world entails. And just this morning, the beast was awakened by some music that has, once again, made my heart sing, transporting me to another world where I feel quite at home. I belong. And for this discovery, I’m eminently grateful.
I’ve got this Mac computer. It has a program called “Dashboard”. On this dashboard -a desktop apparition which appears with a click of your mouse- you are able to import “widgets”, small pieces of software that do the most outrageous things.
On my dashboard I have a variety of items. I have a working lava lamp (it changes colors while it bubbles and oscillates), local time, current weather complete with graphics for atmospheric conditions, be it rain or shine, a grass skirted hula girl who goes into action with a touch of my cursor, a thesaurus, an online yellow pages directory (incredibly handy in this day and age of stiff charges for directory assistance), a genies lamp that spouts wisdom with a simple click, a fart emitting whoopee cushion which gives me far more delight than I care to share with you, the current moon phase, a chameleon who snarls at me when I scratch his tummy, and then, only last night did I discover the widget to end all widgets. It is called “Radio by Wu”. A most outstanding James Bond like device, one whose time had come in my quest to be further seduced by this thing called music.
This “widget” allows you to import different web radio stations that you can engage with a simple choice. In any moment I can be in New Delhi, Helsinki, Buenos Aires, Morocco, Sao Paolo, Madrid, London, San Francisco, you name it, I can go there and immediately immerse in the culture. And all from this seat at my desk in Austin, Texas. Glory be! But last night I discovered the station of all stations -for my personal tastes, that is, but hey, who counts here?!
The station I’ve discovered has reawakened a portion of my youth where I left the innocence of childhood behind and dove in head hands and feet into the most fantastical world of mystery and wonder; New Orleans, Louisiana, one of the premiere cities on the face of the earth.
This station is WWOZ, broadcast from the Farmers Market section of the French Quarter. How apropos.
In this station I’ve been taken on a ride which makes my whole being glow. Again, that heart singing thing. This station plays some of the most enchanting music, a lesser known and under appreciated music in this hurry up day and age, music that stirs something deep within my soul.
Last night the deejay was playing the most sublime jazz, all cuts I’d never heard before but were so elegant, so full of majesty and integrity I found myself swooning like a young man falling in love with his first gal all over again.
The musical choices were so pleasing I fell asleep with the collage of tunes my background accompaniment for a night filled with exotic dreams.
This morning I awakened to a Tom Waits track I’d never heard, followed by some obscure Coltrane, Duke Ellington, a most exquisite Billie Holliday track, the ever adventurous John Vidocovich with Astral Project, then Norah Jones subtly singing the piss out of “Wild Horses”. To awake with a smile on your face, feeling totally invigorated, is the only way to greet a day. This morning, I awoke happier than I can recall, and this coming from one of the most upbeat people on Planet Earth!
I sit here tonight, writing this paen, continuing to be transported by this station that has made my dreams reality, my past my present. Just now, Louie Prima, Fats Domino, Artie Shaw, Ella Fitzgerald, Peggy Lee, Nat King Cole, all in a row... I mean, DAMN!
And then there is the wonderful patois that is the New Orleans vernacular, a vernacular of which every WWOZ deejay was in unique possession. This morning the deejay had some live guests in studio, some members of Wynton Marsalis’ big band, in town to help revitalize a city still in shock over the recent disaster by bringing the gift of music. The musicians and the deejays were exchanging some lively banter, just plain having fun! A relaxed, slightly mischievous, very colorful exchange Most comforting hearing this language that formed me in my youth, transporting me back to a time when the world was young and sweet, when new worlds and vistas were emerging. My home. My people.
And then there is this music, this music which makes life worth living. This incredible music that catalogues America, echoing the moods, the emotions of the day, the gris gris in full bloom.
Thank God for this music. Thank God for these beautiful individuals who struggled all their lives to make this glorious music. My brethren. My people. My heart. My soul.
And to think I have this widget to thank for opening yet another chapter in my life. Will wonders never cease?
Thanks to this widget, and especially WWOZ in New Orleans, I am alive today. I am truly alive.
Now and forever more, Let There Be Music!! And thank you again, God, for one of the most magical cities on earth, New Orleans, Louisiana.
What a lucky man am I.