If it were LIVE…

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Being in the entertainment industry I have often wondered what the statement “LIVE in concert” has meant. They say it in TV and radio commercials. They emblazon it on printed digital items. And I have always said – what are the alternatives? via satellite? To track? Recorded in concert? Like folks would flock to MSG to all watch a DvD of Beyonce’s “LIVE” performance in Paris.

In any case I have made a listing of the songs I would love to sing with the accompaniment of a live band. It’s something that I maintain centered me and kept me so balanced at Prep… The ability to, in the middle of the day, grab my friend Nicky to play piano and belt out my rendition of “Total Eclipse of the Heart” or to bug out with my friend Phil while he played the Bass Saxophone riff that Dr. Dre and Ed Lover made famous in our youth. It was my stress valve. It felt fantastic. My own primal yawp… Just with a little harmony and melody and a phat beat. It always feels good to sing along to the track at the top of my lungs in the car, but there is something fundamental about having that live accompaniment. It is so real…. It reaches into the deepest recesses of who I am and I am never more MYSELF than in those fleeting moments. One day I will have associations that allow for that escape again. Till then, I will line up the songs I will put my heart into so I know what to tell them to play when they ask!

Penitentiary Philosophy – Erykah Badu
Spiderwebs – No Doubt
Love Rears Up It’s Ugly Head – Living Colour
Love Rain (the live arrangement) – Jill Scott
I’m Gonna Be Strong – Blue Angel f/Cyndi Lauper
Jealous Guy – Donny Hathaway

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