“Somewhere there’s music/How near, how far/It’s where you are.”
Lyrics from How High The Moon, A Song by Les Paul and Mary Ford
Whenever I work out on my elliptical at my home basement, I listen to music instead of watching a DVD documentary or a movie. Since being self-isolated due to COVID-19, working out on the elliptical has become a daily routine. To make it interesting, I’ve decided to make my 30-minute workout into a musical journey as well. Here’s my travelogue…
As a young man growing up in a town than a city, I’d never been exposed to the classical music. Nor did I have an aesthetic taste. High culture is an exclusive club for the royals, the aristocrats, the elites, the nouveau riche, and their kind. I remember seeing in the movies such people wearing elegant gowns for the ladies and tuxedos for the gentlemen just to watch and listen to operatic performances in the theatres. I’ve never been to classical music performances but I suspect those attendees are not dressed down. Maybe I’m wrong since there’s no longer a dress code when watching ballet or theatre shows like Swan Lake and the Phantom of the Opera.
I have 12 CDs in my music library with 153 tracks. The well-known composers have the most: J. S. Bach (26), Mozart (20), Beethoven (16), Debussy (7), Chopin (5), Tchaikovsky (5), Schumann (4), Vivaldi (4), Brahms (3), Mendelssohn (3), Haydn (3), and Schubert (2). The one that I am familiar with is Pachelbel’s Canon in D major. Why? Because I hear this music every year as a Christmas song (the Christmas Canon) sung by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, the children’s choir and not to be confused with the rock group. I bought two concert tickets for my wife and me a few years ago for a December show, expecting it to be the children’s choir. We were surprised to see male and female adults on the stage instead. They rocked the place and it turned out to be a fun concert.
I feel guilty listening to this genre while exercising. I am not giving it justice for what it truly deserves. The music must be listened to in silence with eyes closed. When you do that it can stir deeply into your inner soul. The depth and breadth of its tonal purity is quite mesmerizing. It’s excellent background music when studying, thinking, reflecting, and relaxing.
I turn next to the sound and music of Africa. My album has 3 CDs with 48 songs. The lead singers are Insingizi (17), Hennie Bekker (11) and Khumbula (10). They are backed up by all-male singers with their melodious and baritone-sounding harmony. Accompanied by the upbeat sound of drums, the music can transport you magically into the jungle of Africa. It could have been a wonderful experience if only it were real. In 1986, Paul Simon released his album Graceland and introduced the African township music worldwide. His album sold 14 million copies and is the most popular of all his solo works. “The curious beauty of African music,” according to Nelson Mandela in his autobiographical book, Long Walk to Freedom (1994), “is that it uplifts even as it tells a sad tale. You may be poor, you may have a ramshackle house, you may have lost your job, but that song gives you hope.”
What is it in the Latin beat that rhythmically shakes my body? The first album is titled Mediterranean Café and has 32 tracks. The music collection is composed and performed by three artists: Angel Julian, Chris Spheeris and Anthony Mazzella. The album is a mixture of soft and upbeat sound played mostly with the plucking and strumming of a guitar, accompanied sometimes with a piano solo. As I listen to the music, I feel like being transported off the coast of a Greek island, sitting by a small table outside a hotel terrace, overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. I’m drinking coffee and enjoying the light sea breeze touches my face – a life with no worries.
I’m transported next to the seaside city of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil while the statue of Christ the Redeemer looms large for all to see and admire. The album is titled From Rio with Love, a collection of Bossa Nova and Samba classics with 38 tracks/songs. The first CD is a smooth instrumental collection of George Nascimento. I’m treated right away with the riveting Samba classics, So Nice and Wave. Then in track 5, the tall and tan and young and lovely, The Girl from Ipanema, who is full of herself and doesn’t see anybody. Aaah…
The second CD is a collection of some popular American songs performed in a Bossa Nova style, all by women, except one. Maria Augusta sang 8 songs out of 14; Cecelia Dale, 4 songs; and Monique, 1 song with her silky rendition of Me & Mrs. Jones. The only male voice, Bob Toste, sang Strangers in the Night. And the third and last CD contains 14 songs of authentic Brazilian classics sung in Portuguese by women: Marcela, 7 songs; Astrid, 4 songs, Leny Andrade, 2 songs; and Simone Moreno, 1 song.
Before transporting back to my basement, I stop by three U.S. major cities during dinner time. The album is appropriately titled Dinner in the City compiled by Chris Shepherd. First layover is the city of Los Angeles, where I get treated with 10 smooth jazz tracks starting with Breezin’ performed by Womack and ended with Rastegar’s Shootin’ the Breeze. I fly next to Chicago with the sound of 10 smoky blues, one of them is Red Hot Mama by Paul James. And finally, I have to visit the city that never sleeps. There the bright lights of New York welcome me with 14 tracks of piano jazz, and what better sound to end the early night than listening to Porter’s Begin the Beguine and In the Still of the Night.
I arrive home late just in time for 30 songs of Late Night Jazz with some of the greatest names in jazz: Etta Jones, Kenny Burrell, Carmen McRae, Art Pepper, Carol Welsman, Dexter Gordon, Nat & Cannonball Adderley and many more. The easy and soft voice of Annie Ross, singing The Way You Look Tonight, gives me the intimate rhythm of the night.
I like jazz because of its less structured style and freedom of improvisation. Just listening either the solo or alternating lead of the saxophone, piano or guitar, accompanied by the ubiquitous beat of the drum, it makes the listening experience worth the time to spend on. I can’t get enough of the music. So I continue with more albums: Jazz For A Rainy Afternoon (20 tracks), Jazz For When You’re Alone (17 tracks), and Smooth Jazz Weekend (22 tracks). Then the final album Sunset Drive: A Smooth Jazz Collection (36 tracks), I get treated with the smooth sax playing of Michael Lington’s Fragile, Pacifica, It’s Too Late, Show Me, Both Sides Now, and A New Day. I wonder if I could still learn how to play the saxophone even at my waning age.
I’m still a product of my generation. No way will I miss the great songs of the 70s. I have 3 CDs with 15 songs each of the album Romancing the 70s by Time Life. The list includes Love Will Keep Us Together (Captain & Tennille), The Morning After (Maureen McGovern), So In To You (Atlanta Rhythm Section), Without You (Harry Nilsson), Annie’s Song (John Denver), Brandy (Looking Glass), I’ll Never Love This Way Again (Dionne Warwick), Longer (Dan Fogelberg), Afternoon Delight (Starland Vocal Band), Lovin’ You (Minnie Riperton), Blue Bayou (Linda Ronstadt), I’d Really Love To See You Tonight (England Dan & John Ford Coley), (Summer Breeze (Seals & Crofts), and many more love songs that bring back memories of youthful longing and desire. Then I have Super Hits of the 70s vol. 19 with 12 songs featuring two of my long-time favourites: I Like Dreamin’ (Kenny Nolan) and Don’t Give Up On Us (David Soul).
Of course, there are more albums in my music library but not as anthologies or collections. I won’t listen to them as part of this journey because I heard them so many times before. I’ll mention some of my favourite songs here to show the richness of that generation in producing the greatest songs of all times as far as I’m concerned: Stairway to Heaven (Led Zeppelin), Hotel California (Eagles), Fire and Rain (James Taylor), Father & Son (Cat Stevens), Dancing Queen (ABBA), Rhiannon (Fleetwood Mac), Bohemian Rhapsody (Queen), What’s Going On (Marvin Gaye), Let’s Stay Together (Al Green), Aubrey & If (Bread), and Imagine (John Lennon).
The next song I hear wakes me up to the cold reality I have to face. It’s Band on the Run by Paul McCartney and Wings. It goes like this: “Stuck inside these four walls/Sent inside forever/ Never seeing no one/Nice again like you/…If I ever get outta here/ If we ever get outta of here.”
The COVID-19 pandemic now makes travelling such a risky adventure, unless the global community can come up with vaccines that will protect us once and for all. Listening to music of all kinds from all over the world is an imaginary travel that is safe and sound. It’s not really a unique experience. People listen to music anytime of the day, and in places where time stretches into the space of deafening silence. The background effect of a variety of musical reverberations can ease the boredom of a routine activity.
I end this musical journey with some thoughtful questions and lines quoted from a song by Diana Ross, Theme from Mahogany: “Do you know where you’re going to? Do you like the things that life is showing you? Do you get what you’re hoping for when you look behind you there’s no open doors? Once we were standing still in time, chasing the fantasies and feeling all nice. We let so many dreams just slip through our hands. Why must we wait so long before we see? How sad the answers to these questions can be?”
Stay safe! Stay healthy! Stay strong! Let music travel around your house in this desolate time and help you ease the mental burden that you feel. We’ll get through this one way or another!
Rey Moreno
Pickering, Ontario