Reflection:
It’s so wonderful to write yet another blog in keeping with my promise to post one each month. This March, for me is about the reflection of a busy February month performing in Hollywood, CA and Norwalk, CT.
Words help us to reflect on our state of consciousness more deeply and to communicate our actions in detail. But with pure unadulterated absolute music, we’re allowed to imagine within the theaters of our mind and to paint the sonic canvas with various impressions of sounds, fidelity, and its purity to relating to the senses of our actual nature in a living and breathing universe.
Performance:
Performing live in front of a large or small audience of peers is one of the highest honors for mostly every artist in the entertainment industry. That said, whether it’s receiving an award or applauding others being awarded give everyone a sense of pride and that means peers have acknowledged them for their hard work.
Some may perform their spoken words accompanied by an instrumentalist such as a piano, guitar, percussion or just the pure sound of naturally produced instruments of the human body.
Performing at the final winter concert series in the auditorium at the Norwalk Public Library was a treat. All the headliners including myself performed and it was a wall-to-wall success. The audience in attendance was well entertained with a variety of styles from each talented professional. Utilizing the power of words and music in a call and response manner engaged the audience melodically in a chant as I got them all participating.
It’s no wonder why music, when put to words, are so equally compelling.
Combining words to music allow those who looks for details and visual representation to find common ground. That said, they can read and recognize the spoken words that are poetically in a way what accompanies the abstract nature of pure unadulterated music and gives a composition clear meaning.
Whether performing by means reading a novel or reciting prose, it the nature of verse poetry that joins to music in a unique way. For example, Rappers and Poets who have combined their work with music have found great success.
Performing for the first time at the Kulak’s Woodshed, in Hollywood, CA was one of the best choices made to have an exciting performance.
Venues:
Words and music came together during Grammy week. It was one of the best time to meet and greet peers at the many performance halls in preparation for the awards night big show
The real news is how we kept meeting up at various places to either continue our conversations or starting new ones.
It does not matter the size of the venues. A performer can find ways to give an excellent performance not only using the room to his/her advantage but also to engage the audience intimately or suggestively.
Parties:
The parties were all right. They were organized to get more people in our industry communicate freely with each other not only one-on-one but also in small groups.
Grammy week was a special time for many professional music creators and authors who written and have created audio books and various other creative works with music. Everyone came together to participate and have fun but also to make new friends and share in the excitement leading up to the awards night.
People:
Grammy week is always about music and people. It’s an excellent time to meet up with new peers and old friends. Over the years these friends have gotten closer, and alliances formed. Some are into words looking to collaborate with instrumentalist on current or future projects. One good thing about this time of year in the music industry is when many of the creative minds come together as one to participate in small and large parties all over Los Angeles and other neighboring cities.
Freeway:
Freeway driving in LA is not always the faster. If anyone is in a hurry to get to their destination from Long Beach to LA in thirty minutes, you better think again. It can take two hours. In the meantime, turn on the radio, listen to the Neddy Smith, EastWestTrio, BLUE MONDAY cd or just take out a tape recorder and begin recording new ideas for a future project because it’s going to be the longest short distant ride on the Freeway.
Downtown LA:
It’s always amazing how many people you can find moving around at any time, day or night in downtown LA. There’s a mystique about the city that makes it ideal for movie scenes if only many could see the reality of her close to real life, so many movies are. Living in a bubble without experiencing the real-world life of Skid Row will not give you the actual meaning of what others want you to share. But it’s a place to visit and feel for oneself what human do feel for one another.
Skid Row:
As a creative person, driving through Skid Row was an eye opener when first encountered that this place was not a movie but real. On this second trip, I took some time to slow down as I had to travel through this community to attend an event with Grammy peers. My mood went from happy to sad then muted before snapping out of a moment of silence before getting back into conversing with peers and sharing the experience.
Conclusion:
It’s no wonder we as human beings are so connected in so many ways. We’re joined by the spirit of our humanity to live and share in life as time only allows us a daily passage with others and to pass on what was learned from generation to generation through the experiences of the visuals, sounds, words and music.
Lester G Neddy Smith © 2017
All rights reserved.
Words and Music 