A Gout Out for the Mix Tape Universe

Moonlight in Vermont- Johnny Smith

It’s like a warm kiss to the ear subtle, soft and stimulating enough to encapsulate your entire attention. I’ve came across so many musicians that stand far on the extremes of musical sacrilege. I’ve met the Punx that believe learning and growing in your art is taboo and they consider it selling out to “the man.” I’ve seen the stereotypical metal kids that learn all this killer technique on their instrument but their music is more akin to paying to watch someone type really fast as compared to express themselves. By listening to Johnny Smith’s Moonlight in Vermont I finally understood the tired cliché of “speaking through your music.” Never in my life has music sounded so much like spoken word or the instrument an extension of the human as when I heard Smith’s version of My Funny Valentine. My hope is that genres wouldn’t confine people’s soul in terms of expression. Why hinder your growth as a musician because a group frowns upon it? Why indulge in music for nothing more than showmanship at the expense of the intimacy that comes with learning an instrument? Jazz supplies this lush landscape somewhere beyond the extremes of raw emotions to perfected technique. In order for a person to be a jazz musician, as such, he has to battle as the demons of performance and knowledge until they surrender as servants standing by his side. The visceral sonic palette of such artists enables them to evoke any emotion they decide to tug. Moonlight in Vermont is that dryer-warmed blanket against your skin. It’s that conjured up red wine buzz where the mind seems to absorb everything that stimulates it and brings ones consciousness to the moment of now…Why am I lingering like this? Am I not playing favorites to the extremes I want to deviate from by verbally masturbating about how beautiful this music is? Just listen to the damn CD!!!!