Friday, March 06, 2009

Soul vs. No Soul

I always prefer soulful music to soulless music. That's quite a general statement.

What's soul music anyways? Not necessary "black" music. Honestly, I've heard some soulless black music (think some contestants at the "American Idol" auditions....). But anything that comes from the root of jazz and blues is pretty much guaranteed soulful.

That's why, no offense, I find moderm Christian rock to be quite soulless. It seems like they are only venturing into the seemingly harmless genre after having failed once, twice, thrice in the country-rock scene. Howeverm you have to give them credit for finding a niche - finding a niche is the road to success.

Of course, I never equate success with good art. Even though sometimes it's nice to see some artful people slowly becoming successful. Good work, Khalil.

Soulful music.

Let me think: Otis Redding, Otis Spann, The Meters, Spiral Staircase, Stax Records, The Delfonics, Brian McKnight, Stevie Wonder, Isaac Hayes, Ray Charles, Howard McCrary, T-Bone Walker, Jimmy Smith, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Blue Note Records...

ok....some white folks can be quite soulful: James Taylor, Diana Krall, Norah Jones, Paul Simon, Peter Bernstein, Robert De Niro, Johnny Depp, Sean Penn, Woody Allen, Charles Schulz, Mister Rogers, and the list goes on....

It's about expressing the feeling inside of YOU. When that feeling becomes eminent, the art becomes soulful. Soulful because it pours from your heart.

Some people say Asian people tend to be a soulless bunch. There can be some truth in that statement. But that is not to say, you can't find soul in Asia. I gotta admit though, it's pretty hard to find soul in HK. You have to try really hard. But once you find it, it sticks with you forever!

One of my life's goal is to be a soulful person.

You gotta be soulful to your family, neighbors, family, colleagues, passerbys. You gotta be soulful towards life, art, and everything else.

Soul means character, attitude, class.

Being soulful is being jazzy.

Loving life is a soulful act.

Believing in yourself is pouring soul out of your heart.

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