ONE THING I LOVE ABOUT SOUND GARDEN IS THE ACCESSIBILITY TO THE ECLECTIC MUSIC SELECTIONS THROUGHOUT. YOU CAN NOT ONLY FIND MUSIC THAT CAN'T NORMALLY BE ACCESSED, BUT YOU HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO LISTEN TO THE MUSIC IN-STORE. A PLACE LIKE SOUND GARDEN IS A THROWBACK TO BYGONE DAYS WHEN SHOPPING FOR MUSIC WAS A VERY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE INDEED. I KNOW FOR ME IT'S A PERSONAL, ALMOST RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE. THERE HAVE BEEN MANY, MANY DAYS AND NIGHTS OF ME LISTENING TO MUSIC FOR TWO, THREE, FOUR HOURS AT A TIME, LOSING MYSELF IN THE LYRICS AND INSTRUMENTATION. MUSIC CAN TAKE ME TO A PEACEFUL PLACE IN MY LIFE, SO OF COURSE I GRAVITATE TOWARDS THAT PEACE.
ON MY PEACEFUL JOURNEY AT SOUND GARDEN, I CAME ACROSS A FEW INTERESTING MUSICAL NUGGETS THAT BRIGHTENED MY TUESDAY. FIRST ON MY RADAR WAS A BONEY JAMES ALBUM FROM 1997, SWEET THING. I HAVE BEEN SEARCHING AND SEARCHING FOR THIS SPECIFIC BONEY JAMES ALBUM THAT INCLUDED THE GEM "AFTER THE RAIN". I SAY GEM BECAUSE THIS JAZZY, HORN-LADEN, MADE-FOR-CRUISING CUT WAS THE MUSIC I HEARD REPEATEDLY DURING MY CLOSE TO SIX-YEAR STINT AT COMCAST, AS THE HOLD MUSIC UPSET, DISGRUNTLED CABLE CUSTOMERS LISTENED TO ON A CONSTANT BASIS. I FELL IN LOVE WITH THAT SONG IN '98, AND THAT LOVE HAS CARRIED ME THROUGH A DECADE AND SOME CHANGE!
LOU RAWLS, FOR ALL OF HIS ACCOMPLISHMENTS DURING AN INCREDIBLE SIX DECADE CAREER, STILL DOESN'T GARNER ENOUGH ACCOLADES OR RESPECT. I SAY THIS BECAUSE MR. RAWLS DISPLAYED CLASS, DIGNITY, AND IMPECCABLE SINGING CHOPS THAT STOOD THE TEST OF TIME. HIS CAPITOL RECORDS YEARS ARE SOME OF THE BEST RECORDINGS, BECAUSE HIS VOICE BLENDED WITH MUSIC PRESENTED BY H.B. BARNUM AND THE INCOMPARABLE DAVID AXELROD. THE BEST OF LOU RAWLS: THE CAPITOL JAZZ & BLUES RECORDING IS A TESTAMENT TO THE STAYING POWER RAWLS HAD, EVEN DURING THOSE SEMINAL YEARS AT CAPITOL RECORDS. I FOUND MYSELF DRAWN TO THE JAZZY, ATMOSPHERIC, BLUES-LADEN SONGS ON THIS COLLECTION OF CAPITOL RECORDINGS. "YOU'LL NEVER FIND" IS NOWHERE TO BE FOUND IN THIS COLLECTION, OF COURSE, SO A LISTENER GETS THE OPPORTUNITY TO SEE AN ARTIST AT WORK AND IN GROWTH. LOU RAWLS WILL ALWAYS BE REMEMBERED IN MY BOOK AS A DYNAMIC PERSONALITY AND MUSICIAN.
NEXT ON MY SOUND GARDEN EXCURSION WAS ANOTHER UNDERAPPRECIATED ARTIST. FREDDIE HUBBARD RELEASED A FAR-REACHING, EXPANSIVE ALBUM ENTITLED SING ME A SONG OF SONGMY. UPON LISTENING TO THIS COLLECTION OF VERY DIFFERENT SONGS STRUCTURED MORE AS A COLLECTIVE PERFORMANCE PIECE, I COULD SEE THIS 1971 ALBUM FITTING VERY NICELY WITH DAVID AXELROD, CANNONBALL ADDERLY, MILES DAVIS, AND OTHER LIKE-MINDED ARTISTS OF THE DAY. SO MANY DIFFERENT ELEMENTS WERE COOKED IN THIS GUMBO TO COME UP WITH A VERY TASTY AND SATISFYING MUSICAL MEAL. I WILL ADVISE THAT A KEEN EAR AND OPEN MIND IS NECESSARY IN ORDER TO REALLY APPRECIATE WHAT HUBBARD WAS SEEKING WITH THIS SONIC MASTERPIECE.
LAST BUT NOT LEAST ON MY SOMEWHAT BRIEF STINT AT SOUND GARDEN WAS THE JAY-Z CLASSIC STREETS IS WATCHING SOUNDTRACK. THIS ALBUM INCLUDED VERY HOT CUTS, INCLUDING "LOVE FOR FREE", WHICH INTRODUCED THE WORLD TO ROC-A-FELLA RECORDS RELL, WHOSE CAREER DIDN'T QUITE MEET EXPECTATIONS. "LOVE FOR FREE" WAS THE PERFECT STORM IN TERMS OF SMOOTH JIGGA LYRICISM AND EVEN-SMOOTHER VOCAL STYLINGS FROM RELL, AND TO THIS DAY THAT SONG WILL HAVE DANCE FLOORS PACKED AND ARMS RAISED. "IT'S ALRIGHT", FEATURING MEMPHIS BLEEK, AND OTHER JOINTS ROUND OUT THIS STELLAR ROC-A-FELLA ALBUM (AS WELL AS STRAIGHT-TO-DVD MOVIE).
ALL IN ALL, MY INITIAL DISAPPOINTMENT WITH THE LUPE NO-SHOW WAS SOMEWHAT PACIFIED BY MY SOUND GARDEN EXCURSION. I ONLY SPENT A LITTLE MORE THAN AN HOUR IN THE MUSIC SPOT, BUT IT WAS WELL WORTH THE TIME. I HAD THE GRAND OPPORTUNITY TO DECOMPRESS, RELAX, RELEASE, AND LISTEN TO SOME WORTHWHILE MUSIC, AND TO ME, THAT IS INDEED A GOOD THING. SOUND GARDEN, I WILL SEE YOU SOON!
ONE LOVE!
WISDOM
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