Music has the power to uplift, inspire and change people. Like air, music crosses all borders and like water, music can be deep. During the height of the “Red Scare” (fear of communism taking over USA), the American State Department sent Lionel Hampton, Maya Angelou and the “Porgy and Bess” opera cast, to communist countries like Poland and East Germany because they knew the power of music to make ordinary citizens of those countries think highly of America. While black musicians and singers went abroad as ambassadors for our country, at home black people were still getting lynched and terrorized. Blacks created gospel, blues, rhythm and blues and jazz to express the pain as well as joy in their lives. Yes, I said joy. That’s the power of music. Even in the midst of repression, we still fall in love & enjoy a beautiful love song. We wink and smile listening to a fun blues song filled with double entendres about our everyday lives, and nod our heads digging a moving jazz song with no lyrics; where the saxophone seduces you into a telepathic synergy with every note. Music is more powerful than governments. Even when governments ban music with the threat of imprisonment and death, fans find a way to listen underground.
A South African friend who played in the orchestra for my musical “Amandla ka Mandela” told me how they would listen to Miriam Makeba’s music, Hugh Masekela and other banned musicians late at night and groove and dream… One afternoon after rehearsal, I asked what brought him to New York. He shared how when he was a kid, the South African apartheid police burst into his family’s home and killed everyone. (He survived by hiding in a closet under a pile of clothes). An American nonprofit organization arranged for his immigration into USA. Music was the only thing that kept him sane. Music is mystical, magical and miraculous.
A song transports you back in time to the place where you first heard it. You remember vividly who you were with. That’s why couples have “our song.” They hear the first few notes of Smokey Robinson’s “Quiet Storm” and hold hands; close their eyes and are back at the prom slow dancing. Love songs with real musicians playing and singing beautiful music will always be in style. I’m so thrilled to be working with talented artists on a new, original smooth r&b love song and will release it into the universe soon.
One Love,
Aria
copyright 2016 Aria Elan