Life in Rosy Hues :: A Short Musical Autobiography

(For your listening pleasure, while you read.)

One Christmas, in Sarasota Florida, my grandfather sent me on a blind date with Jazz; we were in love in an instant. While all jazz music is inherently Western, it is not Art music, and it is therefore the necessary foundation for my Musical Autobiography.

Growing up, my parents divorced and my father working 55+ hours a week, I spent a lot of time home alone with my younger sister, Angela, with nothing other than a radio for musical entertainment. Naturally, I listened to the 90's Pop favorites like Britney Spears, Mandy Moore, and 98º, but I spent that time longing for the music I came to associate with my grandfather, the music I only had access to during our Christmas vacation to Florida. To a nine year old Erica, Christina Aguilera was good but Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Louis Armstrong, Tony Bennett, Edith Pilaf, Nat 'King' Cole and the like should have had Saint status. To a child growing up in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, the soft yet sleazy tenderness and vivacity that thrived in jazz was vastly diverse to my 90's ears. The songs that deepened my attraction to the genre were those who's lyrics I couldn't understand; Édith Pilaf's La Vie en Rose, in French, (Sophie Milman's cover of the song is above) and Dean Martin's Volare, in Italian, for example. These songs inspired many a dance session between Angela and I, much to my grandparents' enjoyment.

(As a side note, if you've never heard of/listened to Sophie Milman, provided you get some enjoyment out of jazz music, I highly recommend checking her out. Not only is she gorgeous, but she has the voice of one of God's sweetest angels. Also for any appreciator of Music Therapy--Melody Gardot would be happy to meet you.)

As Angela moved up into the third grade, an opportunity opened up for her through the music program at Carolina Forest Elementary School. A Taiko Drum Ensemble was born and, being a lover of all things Japanese, she joined instantaneously. At the time, I knew very little about Taiko and, I must admit, I was mildly skeptical while sitting in the audience waiting for the first concert to start. The director stood up and explained a little about the drums themselves, the commands the children would be calling, and Japanese culture while we anxiously awaited the percussing of tiny children. To my surprise (and to the surprise of the 20-or-so parents sitting around me) they were fantastic! She continued until she was forced to graduate elementary school; I never missed a concert. It was a wonderful eye-opener to rest of the world.

More recently, in 2006, my dad was married to my delightful stepmom, Sheila, in San Francisco, California and while we were in the city, we stopped to wander around Chinatown. As I was walking down the street, I couldn't process my surroundings quickly enough: street vendors, Chinese signs, a funeral procession, incense, what are you trying to get me to taste?! The tapestries and accents all passed by as quickly as the small feet that were crossing the busy street. However one little man playing something abruptly stopped my family and me. (Well...mostly me.) Doing some research, I discovered that this man was playing what is called an Erhu--a Chinese bowed instrument with two strings. This was the first street performer I had ever seen and I hastily placed all of my $20 alloted for "Chinatown tourism" into his Erhu case. He looked up, shocked and grateful, and let me bow a few times as a thank you. He spoke no English and bowed to me as I departed, smiling. I smiled for the rest of the day; I'll never forget him.

As to musical and cultural diversity in the life of Erica, there isn't much past George Harrison's love of the sitar and a steel drum I touched once. Although my life experience thus far hasn't lead me to a vast variety of music from diverse cultures, I am intrigued by ethnomusicology and music of all kinds. I am thrilled to embark on this Jan-term Musical Journey Around the World.