"In The Spirit of the Music"

"In The Spirit of the Music"  

by 

Sheel/Delisfort

I believe that today's music is and has become highly over academic, through the process of systematically making music education something that can be quantified(Business) even though it is a qualitative process. Music education is a beautiful thing, and I'm glad to be part of the process of educating musicians and the massive amounts of listeners alike, BUT... as an artist I've noticed an interesting yet disturbing trend in music lately. This trend I speak of, is focusing more attention on the business part of the art form and less on the actual aesthetic of it. Music is an art in which the musician is sharing a story, a narrative with the listener. I've spoken with at least 30 different musicians that have all agreed that there is a "spirit" to the music that has to be dealt with in a sensitive manner in order to truly convey that message/narrative. Many of you might laugh, or be totally confused by that topic of "spirit" when speaking about music. This spirit I speak of is not a specter or a spook, a ghost nor a whiff of spectral gas flowing down the hall way. What we speak of is the intent of the music, and that there is an unquestionable connection between the intent, the message, the spirit, and the over all organic nature of the music. This applies to any and every genre of music as well as the quality, good and bad, of the art form, music.

After a recent phone conversation, with my great friend Willerm Delisfort(NYC -Pianist), about a related topic, we decided to work together to iron out the specifics about this interesting topic and convey them to you the reader with more specificity in this article. I really believe that the main impetus for writing this article was to communicate to all the musicians out there, that music is more than promotion, composing, arranging, producing, booking, ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, B.S., M.M., & DMA music degrees. Music has been around since the beginning of humanity, and definitively... the beginning of society. It has been the poly rhythmic talking drums of the African continent, the solemn organ like dirge of the funeral in Europe, the singing strings of the Asiatic ballad, the fanfare, booming bass drum as well as the crashing cymbals of the Janissary/war bands. These are just a few of the messages conveyed by music of the millienia. However, there is a message... deep yet simple

THE SPIRIT

THE INTENT

INTERPRETING

YOUR VOICE

THE CONNECTION TO THE LISTENER

THE CONNECTION TO THE GREAT