Music, for me, is the closest thing to experiencing the essential nature
of the cosmos, holding a pure magic that is endless in its expression
and ephemeral in its manifestation… powerfully present in the
moment, then gone, back into the silent void. It is truly a gift of
the Universe and a joy to have as part of our human journey, to be able
to express our souls and hearts and be understood by anyone, anywhere,
at that level of being.
I am grateful to have been surrounded by music throughout my life, having
been born into a musical family and raised listening to my Mom singing
the many flavors of classical opera and musicals. Concurrently, my brothers
and I were discovering the emerging wave of musical revolution as the
‘60s and ‘70s brought a plethora of innovation both creative
and technical, passionate and ecstatic.
Having studied piano and music theory from 8 to 13 years old I immediately
launched into the vast world of the guitar when my brother brought home
a new Telecaster and an old, burned (literally) Twin Reverb amp, playing
along with every album I could dare attempt to emulate from the likes
of the Allman Brothers, Dave Mason, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Peter
Gabriel and others. An especially powerful influence in my early teens
was the renegade genius of Frank Zappa who showed me that music could
be both a phenomenally ecstatic good time and mind-boggling compositional
inspiration. The immersion into Frank’s musical world helped to
set a quest in me to seek a new expression in music as my primary motivation
in the art. A quest both intimidating and compelling beyond words.
For years I explored the flavors of rock, jazz, celtic, Indian, Latin,
new age, world and other musical styles, enjoying stints in bands where
any one of these genres might be explored, mutated, synthesized and
improvised.
Along the way I discovered a deep fondness for the utter beauty of a
woman’s voice, to me the purest and most sensuous expression of
the divine there is. Powerful, seductive, soothing, at times startling
to tears, the voice of a woman stirs the currents of emotion like no
other instrument, and I’ve always held an attraction to music
from around the world that sings this voice.
Whenever I encounter new music, I’m always attracted first to
the expression of the instruments, often taking a number of passes listening
to a new song, riding the movements of the melody and harmony, before
I fully tune into the lyrics. Eventually the words will surface with
meaning and story, but the music will be the sea that my ear chooses
to swim in or leap out of. This essential preference, combined with
my love of the female voice, has drawn me to songs from cultures that
are not sung in the English language, and others like Karl Jenkins Adiemus
that transcend Earth language altogether.
It is for these reasons that I love creating music with Melanie. Her
natural gift of transcendent lyrical expression combines the best of
both worlds for me, bringing a very musical language and vocal journey
into evocative musical landscapes. And her natural musicality offers
a truly unique palette through which to paint this landscape. When I
met Melanie and began to listen into her soul’s expression in
music, the currents in me recognized a soul union both vastly new and
thrilling, and eternally deep and familiar. As we began to play together,
the recognition was instantly shared and effortlessly present. Soul
stirring soul, calling forth that which lies just below the surface
of our personalities where the music is created even before we consciously
know it. Mystery of Souls is our offering from this place we all ultimately
share in union.
marshall@mysteryofsouls.com
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