Notes From a Curious Listener

The message that comes through most clearly from four-time Grammy® Award winner, Dianne Reeves, is to nurture your own unique talent. She says it in  many different ways; and I understand why it is so important to her - as important as making the critics happy or selling a million records.

She believes, as I do, that ordinary, not extraordinary, people effect change. Ms. Reeves articulates this in an interview on Dec. 18, 2008 with Guerrilla Journalism at 1:37, "The most important thing that a person can do to effect change is to love themselves....We are each given something different to do specifically....If you are strong in knowing that you are essential ... and you do the things that you are supposed to be in charge of doing in this world, those things can effect change. You don't have to go global, you can start right in your own family and local." What an empowering message!

It was Sarah Vaughan, whose songs Ms. Reeves will be singing on Friday night, that showed her the possibilities of the voice. Ms. Vaughan had an amazing range from "true female baritone lows to mezzo-soprano highs" according to Wikipedia. Ms. Reeves also has an amazing voice with "superhuman control over tone and pitch", according to Hugo Kugiya of the Seattle Times.

This Sunday the China Philharmonic is playing for us at Copley Hall. The Orquesta Nacional de España was committed to playing but pulled out of their entire tour because the Spanish government ended the funding.

I knew when I heard about the debt crises in Europe that it would affect America's ability to sell products overseas. I knew that this would affect our stock market as well as job creation in the United States. I knew it was bad; but I didn't know that the first way it would affect me was through my music.

I love macro-economics because it tries to determine the best way to run the economy which, despite all appearances to the contrary, has a strong effect on our lives. Take our example here - the Spanish government runs short on cash so therefore we listen to a Chinese orchestra instead of a Spanish one. Amazing!