Every language in the world has its rhythm and sound and there are even languages that have words with different meanings depending on the pitch. There is a language in the world that every person understands, the language of music.
Music has always fascinated me and I grew up with the sound of music coming from an old Blaupunkt radio. The first live music I heard was probably from the local fanfare. My father played the clarinette in that fanfare and one of the oldest memories I have is a 45-rpm record by Sidney Bechet.
The clarinette is an instrument that sparks joy and that was probably what people liked and needed after the second world war. One of the best examples of that feeling of happiness is the song ‘Tico Tico’. Link to the version of Paquito D’Rivera ft. Andrei Matorin https://youtu.be/FMJ0TnES9pU?si=dPHlYAPVvwqXp0Hq
This year it was the 50th anniversary of North Sea Jazz a great festival in the Netherlands and I listened to the podcast https://npo.nl/luister/podcasts/1386-50-jaar-north-sea-jazz telling the amazing story of this festival. Jazz or ‘social music’ as some prefer to call it is the kind of music that expresses the best why music is a universal language. It is about being in the moment. A good quartet is like a good conversation among friends interacting to each other’s ideas. A recent video I have seen from Joe Jackson confirmed my opinion about music as universal language. Songs are popular worldwide, also in countries where the language of the lyrics are not even understood.
One of my favourite songs I don’t understand is this one https://youtu.be/x1WMgelS4c8?si=QPo6iXR2ztzXvHYY ‘Augurio’ by Gertrudis a Spanish band. I do understand Spanish, but I have no idea what language they sing and what this song is about. I find this a wonderful song because of the mix of jazz, salsa and pop.
Another fascinating music category as we call it is flamenco. The first time I heard ‘Entre dos aguas’ by Paco de Lucía I was struck by the rhythm and the virtuosity of his guitar play https://youtu.be/2oyhlad64-s?si=bsMCM_5Xipfh_mvW Many years later when we lived in Ronda, Andalucía I sold the 26 cd set in our shop there. A 26 cd box set you can still find I think https://www.discogs.com/fr/release/11389215-Paco-De-Luc%C3%ADa-Integral There are not many lyrics on these cd’s … The music says it all.
‘Solo quiero caminar’
In this interview Paco de Lucía explains https://youtu.be/0U1SNFsVh_M?si=kUJk1Nc7liQ0EMF6 ‘duende’ and other terms used in flamenco and he talks about the soul of flamenco. Very inspiring and again it’s hard to tell in words how music works. It’s the art of the invisible.
