So I'll take thiiisss post to dissssscussss some of the things I draw inspiration from; specifically my largest musical influences. (at least at this point in time)
(I know a lot of you are about to roll your eyes):
D'Angelo
I can't say it enough, the music I listen to and strive to make was profoundly changed after hearing D'Angelo's music. Most know him as the naked dude from his Untitled (How Does it Feel) video. That's how I knew him too, before this winter afternoon in 2005. I remember I was working at Rancatore's Ice Cream Shop, D's "When We Get By" came on the owner's ipod on shuffle. He had gotten the track from some neo-soul compilation, and I remember I fucking tripped, I must have listened to it at least 25 times on repeat, dancing all around the store and shit. I was just getting into neo-soul at the time, and I had been checking out Musiq Soulchild and Dwele, but right away D'Angelo's music hit me as the rawer shit I was looking for. I ran back after work and copped "Brown Sugar" and D'angelo's other album, "Voodoo". I remember at first, I was much more into Brown Sugar... but today, I'd say Voodoo is my single favorite album of all time. Not only that; good music, like any good gateway drug, usually leads to other good music after a little research. Checking out D'Angelo further introduced me to some of my current other favorite musicians like J Dilla, Bilal, ?uestlove, Erykah Badu and Raphael Saadiq.
So you might be wondering whyyy it is that I dig his music so much, well as a musician and avid music lover I've really tried to identify it. D'Angelo is the king of vibe. Each of his songs exude a certain kind of emotion that is real and raw; it gets under your skin. Not only is his music dope, but D'Angelo's artistic approach is a huge inspiration. There is a clear artistic development from the albums Brown Sugar to Voodoo. You can tell that D'Angelo really studied all different aspects of music (production, groove, composition etc) and he really worked out how best to combine all of his influences. And he was definitely sensitive to the product that the fusion of those influences would generate.
Its weird how I didn't really get into D'Angelo until my junior year of high school, but its almost like his music was always in my life. My favorite movie when I was a kid was Space Jam, I was a fanatic. I listened to the soundtrack every day (ON CASSETTE!!) Anyway, D'Angelo's song "I Found My Smile Again" was on the soundtrack. So technically, I've been a religious listener of D'Angelo's music since I was in the 2nd grade. Also, when I was a kid my sister and I used to ONLY listen to TLC's CrazySexyCool and Lauryn Hill's Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, D'Angelo is on one of the tracks on that Lauryn Hill album. Furthermore, Over my summers throughout High School I have been attending the Litchfield Jazz Camp, where I work with guitarist Mark Whitfield. Little did I know, until this past summer, that Mark is the guitarist on the majority of D's Brown Sugar. Crazy to think I was studying with a member of the personnel of one of my favorite albums and I didn't even know it.
Well, I could write an essay all about D'Angelo and how and his music has effected my life, maybe I will. All I know is;
-When I wake up in the morning I listen to "greatdayindamornin/booty"
-When I'm in that mood I listen to "the root"
-When I feel like getting down I listen to "chicken grease" or "spanish joint"
-And when I feel like makin love, well...
Miles Davis
I had a tough time deciding between writing about Miles or Coltrane for this post. But I think that Miles not only inspires me with his extensive library of music, consisting of over 50 years of recordings, but also with his artistic approach. First off, Miles was all about making organic music. His playing wasn't perfect, his recordings aren't perfect, and he was known for his "one-take" mentality in the studio. But I think that many of these characteristics, considered flaws to some, give Miles' music its timeless and transcendental qualities. I believe music's purpose is mainly to reflect "experience" and "life". And as we all know; life isn't perfect, the universe isn't perfect, and the natural world is not perfect, and therefore music should not be perfect either. Mistakes or "imperfections" that come up in music often inspire new approches and take the music in a different direction, in this sense, it makes the music living and organic. To give a contemporary example, this is why I think that personally, I gravitate more to J Dilla's laid-back-funky drum programing than the more robotic and calculated programming found in some modern techno.
Not only is Miles' organic approach inspirational, but Miles' artistic commitment to innovation is also a trait that inspires me. His drive for innovation is apparent in his discography. Miles barely ever lasted more than 3 years playing the same kind of music. He has so many eras; the Bebop days with Charlie Parker, the Cool Jazz Movement, his first great hard-bop quintet, his second great quintet, and his later electric period that encompassed the early fusion movement and even early hip-hop. Before Miles' listeners began to become comfortable with his music, he was already moving on to the next thing, leading music into its next era. Many artists find their niche's and stick with them, Miles is not one of these people; always re-inventing his musical approach. His discography reads like a history of jazz, and its absurd how apparent his role is in the development of its many sub-genres.
Not only that, but Miles' knack for identifying other innovators is astounding. Basically, the mans taste is unmatched. The list of his band members over the years would read like an All-Star cast that not even Martin Scorsese could pull together for his next boston-based-blockbuster. So many of my favorite jazz musicians worked with Miles Davis: Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, John Coltrane, Cannonball Adderly, Kenny Garrett, and Keith Jarrett to name just a few...
Lionel Loueke
I remember I first encountered Lionel on... the internet? Weird, yeah but he somehow friended my old Myspace page, and I remember I listened to his music and I was initially like, what the hell is this shit? A week or two later me and a bunch of buds went to Carnegie Hall to see Herbie Hancock, and there on stage playing guitar with him was my new friend (or well something like that), Lionel Loueke. Lionel's playing blew me away that night, and I went back and started to check out his music and his background. Lionel Loueke is a guitarist from West Benin, Africa. He grew up in poverty and could not even afford a guitar until the age of seventeen. There are stories of how he wanted to transcribe jazz, but did not have the resources to slow down fast licks, so he would use dying batteries and cassette tapes to slow down the playing to figure the licks out. Lionel eventually went to study in France, and then was accepted into the Thelonious Monk Institute in 2001. Soon after he was touring with Herbie Hancock. Lionel is an inspiration for his rags to riches story in a way. He shows that if you really want something, in music or elsewhere, you can achieve it, regardless of your situation.
Not only is Lionel's story inspiring, his playing and jazz approach is very unique. Combining brazilian, african, bebop, and avant garde techniques, Lionel creates music that is beyond category. His tasteful and melodic playing is something that even some of the greatest legends in jazz have taken note of. (Herbie, Wayne, etc.) On top of all of this, Lionel is just a great guy. I met him after a gig he did in NYC one time, he was just chilling at the bar and I went and talked to him, so I can personally vouch that Lionel is just a really kind individual. I've heard stories about a lot of successful jazz musicians (what an oxymoron) who are just jerks, and I've encountered some of them. So its really refreshing that Lionel is such a prodigy, has shared stages with some of jazz's giants, and is still down to earth enough to take five minutes while having a drink to talk music with someone like me.
So, at this moment, I'd say those musicians are my top three musical inspirations. I know I'm missing Stevie Wonder, and I'm sure I'm missing some other ones that all of you are welcome to remind me of... Funky Gnomes? Blink-182? Force the Fallen? yeah, they should prolly be up there too.
