With six Grammy Award wins out of 25 nominations, plus 21 roles to her credit as an actress and 10 as a film producer, the body of Whitney Houston’s creative output speaks better than anything or anyone else on her behalf. The elegy at the bottom of this post does comprise a principle part of this commentary but to it should be added this: much has been rightfully said about the quality of Houston’s powerful voice but too little, perhaps, about how masterfully she employed it as a musical artist. If you missed part 1 of this article please click here. From her gospel-singing mother Cissy Houston, her legendary pop-diva cousin Dionne Warwick, and her Queen of Soul godmother Aretha Franklin, Houston inherited gifts for skillfully interpreting lyrics and endowing them with new depth and jeweled nuance. In less than a split second, she could switch instinctively from soprano to alto, or from contralto back down to soprano and all the notes in between like a sparrow flitting from one blossoming shrub to another. She could growl like a blues-woman on the prowl or croon barely-contained passion like a mystic singing for her God and nobody else.
“I Will Always Love You” was already a beautiful song as recorded by its composer, Dolly Parton, as well as by rock star Linda Ronstadt long before Houston put her indelible stamp on it. Likewise, “The Star Spangled Banner” was already a staple of American culture. But it was Houston’s talent for original interpretation that allowed her to transform Parton’s song into powerhouse declaration of unconditional love in the face of unavoidable pain. And that same talent allowed her to wake up an entire nation to the deeper inspired meaning of words many had previously sung with bored impatience. Elegy for Timeless DivaThe following praise poem/elegy, The Consecrated Soul of Whitney Houston, is one humble acknowledgement of the musical artist’s exceptional life, talent, and titanic legacy: The Consecrated Soul of Whitney Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) “Share my love, take me for what I am…” ––Whitney Houston (from song I Have Nothing lyrics by Linda Thompson / David W. Foster) Your greatest hit is your consecrated soul, notes dipped in gold by the one who made you. Your style could burn valentine-heart red, or smolder soulfully brilliant, ingeniously blue. Sometimes on wings of diamond soprano, or then again on comets of billion-dollar contralto... you flew heights profoundly sacred–– one moment adored, the next embattled. With blood flowing from gospel’s rock of ages, you sang the world’s fury into rose-scented grace. Time dressed you in gowns of astonished majesty; starlight blessed you with an angel’s glittering face. Who among humans are equipped to judge you? Many still squint trying to glimpse your light. Beauty from another world gave birth to your voice–– sent to rescue scorned hearts from traumatized nights. Your greatest hit is your consecrated soul, notes dipped in gold by the one who made you. Gently now, eternity engraves your name with hymns, weeping ballads of love––and psalms of gratitude. By Aberjhani |
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“True love is rare
Honest love is scarce
Emotional love is common”
--Yusef Lateef from The Blue Yusef Lateef acrostic poem
The only song I had been able to recall from the album while in San Francisco had been "Juba Juba,” but once I obtained the full CD, each of the eight compositions shared something brilliant with me. After listening to the second song, “Like It Is,” I immediately played it again. And then again. And again. Exactly how many times I listened to it nonstop I couldn’t say but the magic that had visited me in San Francisco returned and once more I was moved to lift my pen and write inside the flow of Lateef’s playing. The result this time was the poem “Like It Is Us,” later published in both Visions of a Skylark Dressed in Black and in ELEMENTAL, The Power of Illuminated Love.
How could I have known decades ago as a child that I was receiving one of the most priceless gifts anyone would ever give me when Yusef Lateef spoke light in the form of music directly to my soul through his saxophone and flute when I first heard his masterpiece of an album The Blue Yusef Lateef? There was no way for me to know it back then–– but I know it now and I am grateful for this opportunity to say Thank You.
by Aberjhani
I’ve often described writing books as my way of participating in an ancient and ongoing dialogue between creative sensibilities passionate about what it means to be part of this adventure called life. I like to think that a good bit of the words I contribute to that dialogue are infused with a kind of music. And that this music affords me a place somewhere near the crystal-like ripples of the presence of those whose voices and talents as guitarists, pianists, saxophonists, percussionists, and other startling souls feed the world with their sonic brilliance. I know I share some worthy kinship through the song lyrics I write and as well, perhaps, through certain poems.
But none of that, as grateful as I am to claim it, rises quite enough to the level of those who first inhale the whirlwind complexities of existence and then exhale the sublime flow of beauty we call music. SONIC DELIGHTS is not only about presenting reviews of exceptional recordings and musicians that capture my attention and refuse to let it go. It is about expressing gratitude for the persistent presence of music itself. Century after century it has remained an unwavering force of creative splendor in a world where chaos and destruction boom louder and louder, it seems, nearly every day.
--Aberjhani
In a way, I have already done with my novel, Christmas When Music Almost Killed the World, in fiction what I am now doing with SONIC DELIGHTS. It seems therefore appropriate jumpstart blog with a an excerpt from CHRISTMAS. This is a song sung by the character Ruzahn and called “The Healing Time.”
THE HEALING TIME
Seven long years,
all struggle, no gain,
sun comin’ up
brought nothin’ but pain.
Grief for my father,
tears for my mother,
too heartbroken
to help one another.
Then came the healing time,
hearts started to shine,
soul felt so fine,
oh what a freeing time it was.
Life was such an enemy,
no kind of friend,
night time caught me screamin’
time and time again.
Screaming for my heart,
screaming for my soul,
too torn apart
to make myself whole.
Then came the healing time,
oh my heart did shine,
soul felt so fine,
oh what a freeing time it was.
by Aberjhani
One reviewer's shared love affair with music.
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