Art & Music (Maxwell Live, 06.02.10)

I just got back from Seattle last night.  I go to Seattle frequently because my beloved sisters, cousins and most of my nieces and nephews reside there, but this time I flew up for 2 days, mainly to see Maxwell perform at the Key Arena.

He was coming to Oakland, so I could have just gone to the show taking place at the Oracle Arena this evening, but I’d had a great time seeing him in Seattle at The Paramount last Summer – it was a little more low-key.  Plus, I wanted to take my cousin, a fellow Maxwell enthusiast, for her birthday.  I thought it would be an adventure…

And it was. One of the most stressful experiences I’ve had in my life. There was a road block at every corner, it seemed.  By the time 8:00pm came on the 2nd of June, I was just ready to find my seat, relax, and listen to audible art.

This is not a review, but rather my attempt to understand my own brain and the effect music has on it.  I am constantly trying to figure out why I use music as an escape from the harsh realities of life.  Well, besides the obvious reasons…

I’ve mentioned before how certain things trigger dopamine production in our brains; food, sex, drugs and alcohol.  Music is another, and my drug of choice.  It really does help me get through life when I’m feeling hopeless.  I don’t know if I would be able to live without it.

As for Visual Art, I absolutely love creating, but I really only do it because I happen to be good at it.  Music is my first love.  And I don’t have much knowledge of the art world, the history, or styles and techniques.  I tend to look to musicians for guidance and inspiration, and revere them as most visual artists would revere great painters like Van Gogh or Michelangelo.

That’s how I see Maxwell, you know.  I always associate him with fine art.  Maybe it’s partly to do with the imagery in his earlier videos, like the voluptuous mermaid painting in “Whenever, Wherever, Whatever.”  The only paintings I knew of at that time were by Dali (because my grandmother was a collector of his work and I had seen his paintings around the house) and Frida Kahlo (because my eldest sister had a book about her), but besides that I had no interest or knowledge of any visual artists.  So that may be the reason I put musicians in the space that would normally be occupied by artists, at least in the brain of an artist.

Anyway, it’s for that reason that I do not hesitate to buy tickets to see Maxwell whenever he goes on tour.  I’ve seen him perform the same numbers on 4 different occasions in the past 2 years, and every time I learn something new.  There is something that happens in my mind each time I see him live.  I don’t have a great epiphany – nothing like that – but I get a better understanding of my own mind.

When I listen to my favorite artist’s albums, it’s sometimes hard for me not to worship them.  I’m able to ignore the fact that they are humans, they’re fallible, and that they eat, sleep, and sh*t like the rest of us.  But when I get to see them in person, that dreamy bubble floating over my head gets popped, and I can see things a little more clearly.  I still adore them, but I can see them for what they are, not the image that I’ve made up in my head for them.

It’s deep.  And I’ve ranted enough, so I’ll close by saying I’m glad I got to go and especially happy that I was able to contribute 2 whole dollars to Haiti and hear the smooth sounds of Max and his band in the process.  I don’t even have any complaints about the wait time.  All I know is that I’m gonna try to be the BEST artist I can be, touch as many hearts as I can, and to take every opportunity to HELP SOMEBODY.  (That was my favorite part, btw.  I felt that in my legs.)  Shout outs to everybody in the band, but especially Ms. Webb and her angelic voice, the horn section, and Hod David’s magic fingers.  Have a great rest of your tour…

“I don’t do drugs, I am drugs”

Salvador Dalí(Spanish painter, 1904-1989)

If Maxwell had a church, I would go…

…Maybe even every Sunday.  Because it left me feeling happy, like good music is supposed to do.

Man, imagine that.  A church pastored by Maxwell.  Praise service led by Sister Webb, and some of the baddest musicians in the land to accompany them…  I get the impression that Maximillian is short-winded, so we wouldn’t have to sit through any long and boring lessons.  In fact, we could cut the sermons out all together.  The message is in the music, so no talking is really necessary.

Hmmmmm, what a lovely vision in my mind!  The only problem I could think of is that our beloved pastor might be something like that dude in The Grapes of Wrath who would get the Holy Ghost and have to go screw one of the church ladies…
But, it’s the Church of LOVE, so anything goes, right?  As long as it’s done with a loving spirit.

Yeah, great.  Enough of that.  I’m bringing this up because I just went to his show on Tuesday, the 23rd of June at the Paramount Theatre in Seattle.  I had been looking forward to this for weeks, and was super excited when I finally arrived at the venue and took my seat in the second row (which coincidentally is NOT the second row, because there are 3-4 rows ahead of it if you count the seats in the orchestra.)  My sisters and I were a little late, as usual, so we missed some of the opening act.  Laura Izibor.  She’s a talented gal, I tell ya.  Beautiful voice.

There was a brief waiting period between the end of her performance and the start of his, so they brought a dj out to kill the monotony, all the while building the suspense and making a little silent scream in my chest rise until it had reached the back of my throat.  So when he hit the stage with “Get to Know Ya” I screamed like I was at an Elvis concert.  Waaay too juiced.  (LOVED the tic tacs, btw.  Tic tacs are shoes for those who don’t know.  And M. was rockin’ those joints.)

I’m not gonna get all into the set list and stuff.  However, I do want to point out that the band was on point on ALL songs, but especially on the new ones.  “Cold” is actually hot on wax but it’s burning up live.  And “Bad Habits” is a song that was made to hear en vivo.

I had previously mentioned how much I love his horn section, but the star player for me this evening was his guitarist.  Not to single anyone out, but this guy was strummin’ my heart with his fingers.  Is that Hod David?  IDK. Correct me if I’m wrong.  In any event, he was the bomb.  When he played that breakdown in “Stop the World” I stopped breathing.  And now that is my favorite song.  When I was feeling really sad on Thursday, and I couldn’t bear to hear any of the news reports or music they were playing in Remembrance of Him, I put that song on (from theboombox.com) and it made me feel better, swear to God.

Yeah, so the new joints were among my favorites of the evening, and I wish I could see these guys perform them at least once a week.  The YouTube versions do not compare to the real thing.  Hey, maybe you guys can put out a live album.  That would be maaahvelous.

In conclusion,  I can only say that I had a wonderful time and I would love to do it again sometime in the near future.  If I had the ends I would go stay with my sis in Miami and hit the show on the 31st  of July, but that’s highly unlikely.  If I’m not mistaken, it’s at Bayfront Park??  That’s one of my favoritest venues of all time.  Straight vibes.

All I can say for sure that me and Essencia WILL be purchasing the CD on the 7th of July in Italia.  I’ll have that in my headphones while im sailing on a Gondola thru Venice.  Tell the gondolier to shut up, y’all – I’m listening to my Maxwell.

[[[[.:R.I.P. MJ - Love multiplied times a thousand:.]]]]

I wrote a poem for him in the previous blog. Check it out if you’re interested…

Movers and Shakers: Prince & Maxwell (Updated)

Leave it to a Gemini to get things started.  Even when these two are speaking, it’s like music to my ears.  Because no one else is going quite that deep…

So, this morning I was pleasantly surprised when I saw that Yahoo had a featured article on Prince and how he recently revealed that he was born with epilepsy.  He touched on that and some other serious matters on the Tavis Smiley show last week.  I had no idea that Prince was gonna be on Tavis’ show, so I missed it, but thanx to pbs.org I was able to catch the full interview.  As we all know, I adore this man to no end, but I gotta say – my love & respect for him has grown even stronger after watching the show.

He talks about the new album, about Dick Gregory and chemtrails…  He hipped me to some stuff I had no knowledge of.  It’s interesting.  And my man is a sight for sore eyes in his suit ‘n’ satin tie.  Ai yai yai.  Oh, and on Part 2 of the interview Tavis talks with Bria Valente…so for those who want to know more about her this is a great chance to learn a thing or two.

Prince on Tavis Smiley 4.28.09

Dick Gregory @ The State of the Black Union Pt. 1

What is a chemtrail?

Last but not least, I came across this video of Maxwell at a press conference for his new album that was held on the same day as the Prince interview.  I was juiced that day because Maxwell had mentioned something on Twitter about his website going up on the 28th.  But I found out thru MFF’s MySpace that his new single was also going on sale and he would be appearing on 106th and Park to present the ‘Pretty Wings’ video at 6pm, so I sure was in front of that screen @ 5:55.  And I learned a new dance, y’all.  The Ricky Bobby. 

JUST ADDED:  Maxwell also appeared on Tavis’ show last night (5/14).  Here is a link to the full interview:

Maxwell on Tavis Smiley

Yeah, if you don’t already know, I luv, luv, LUV that man.  I think he’s one of the greatest artists of all time…his music is timeless.  And I really see some god-like qualities in him.  Actually, he’s the muse.  Or the male equivalent.   Something like the Gandharva in Hinduism.  Listen to him talk about the role and responsibility of the musician.  I’m tellin’ you…

This is good stuff.  So if you have the time, please check it out.  And support these great artists by purchasing LotusFlow3r at Target or on www.lotusflow3r.com or the ‘Pretty Wings’ single on Rhapsody or Itunes.

Ciao…

Maxwell @ The Paramount, 10.28.08

Boy, did I punk out tonite.  In another blog I was saying how when I met “Maxwell” I would do this and that…but I ended up doing absolutely nothing.
All talk mayne.

1st off, I hid behind a tree while Essence went to take pictures of him haha.  I knew she would rather have a picture with him than of him, so I ran and grabbed the “picture camera” from her and took a few snaps as they posed.  I didn’t greet him or even look at him…just clammed up, like we Cancers tend to do.

Sorry dude!  That was kinda rude.  Not many people intimidate me, but for some reason I get all humble when I meet someone I look up to.  I can come across as being indifferent, but lemme tell you – that is most definitely not the case…

Did I mention  that we were late so we missed 1/3 of the show??  I thought this cat was gonna be late so I took my sweet time getting there.  But at least I got to hear my song.  The full version at that, since I had only heard the myspace snippet a thousand times.  And his band was OFF THE HOOK! The horn section??  OMG they were raw.  Everyone was.  Felt like I was in Idlewild lol.

Oh, and there was a bunk-azz afterparty at 330 Ritch.  Shoulda had a party in the town y’all!  (No offense.)  At least they played some old skool joints I hadn’t heard in a while.  I got to dance a little.

Yeah, so that’s my story.  Not very interesting but quite humorous to me.

Me ‘n’ my tree lolol.  Look’n like Cassie Mae.

My obsession with Maxwell

It’s 2:00 am and I was just awakened from a peaceful slumber. ;P

Something reminded me that the guy we call Maxwell was coming to Oakland in October, and now I’m longing to hear his voice. So I turned on this video.  I ask myself, “Why am I so obsessed with this man??”  But I’m not the only one – my cousin Essence went into hysterics when she found out he was going on tour.

Hey, it’s a healthy obsession I think. I depend on good music to stay alive, and he is one of the few living artists that still quenches my thirst. Maybe he is part angel. Or maybe his Mom dedicated him to God when he was conceived. (That’s what our Mom did and I’m convinced it’s the reason why all six of us have some artistic talent.)  Whatever the case may be, I look up to him and aspire to be as perfect in my craft as he is in his.  It’s not that “panty-drawl” kinda love.  I don’t really want to jump his bones.  (Note: I speak only for myself when I say that.  Essencia may have a different agenda hahaha!)  And I when I meet him, I feel like I will need to perform Charan Sparsh, a Hindu ritual of bowing down to someone else and touching their feet in reverence.  But I won’t.  Because neither of us are Hindu and he might think I’m trying to work some mumbo-jumbo voodoo-type stuff on him.

Anyway, my hope for the future of music lies within his vocal chords.  I look forward to the spiritual fulfillment that I will receive simply by hearing his voice.  Like I’m at church.  Hallelujah Hundamashundah!  There I’ll be, at my seat giggin’ and singing along when I hear the up-tempo joints, and crying like a lil biatch when he sings “Pretty Wings.” If he does sing “Pretty Wings.”

Okay that’s enough.  I’m sleepy again.  My luv ‘n’ prayers to everyone in the world, especially those suffering.  God is good.

Check out this video: Maxwells tribute to Al Green, BET Awards 2008