A World Within A Song

Newsletter 21: The Jazz Conduit

My friend and I were shooting the breeze in his office, venting about the volume of work and dearth of free time. Some days were endless. That day, I was checking in on him. It was the routine when I figured he’d hunkered down long enough with his nose in the business. He’d chat about idle things unrelated to work and I’d eagerly listen.

He pulled up a video on YouTube to show me an artist he was listening to: Yussef Dayes. He was an English jazz drummer who’s energetic, syncopated rhythms were very impressive. He looked young and sounded very good.

I’m the kind of friend who will at least give a recommendation a try. At some point later, I listened to “Love Is the Message”. I was instantly transported. I’d never heard anything like it and was carried away on every note.

The talented lineup included Alfa Mist, a keyboardist and producer, Mansur Brown on electric guitar, and Rocco Palladino, a bassist who’s father Giuseppe “Pino” Palladino has played with musicians from The Who to D’Angelo. Yussef is on drums.

Mansur is an absolute star on this track and drives the floating melody that has prompted a thousand replays. His guitar almost sounds like a steel pan and gives an upbeat feel. The transition to quiet thumping bass and drums gives some respite before returning the main melody for an electrified finish.

I have four favorite songs:

1. “Epitaph”, King Crimson

2. “Echoes”, Pink Floyd

3. “Ligging at Louis”, Camel

4. “Love Is the Message” Yussef Dayes, Alfa Mist, Mansur Brown, Rocco Palladino

The common thread in these songs is that these tracks are transcendent. They’re alive and deeply moving. “Echoes” has absolutely brilliant song-writing, a quote of which I actually have tattooed. “Epitaph” is a seminal progressive work that is an epic composition. I didn’t think there would be a track hovering in their stratosphere. While I am only a dabbler in jazz and have not delved into the likes of someone like jazz legend Ahmad Jamal, this was the most unique sound I’d heard and could compare to nothing else. There are no pieces of it that I recognize elsewhere.

LITM is my first ever gateway song. Much of the music I’ve listened to in the past four years has derived from a Yussef Dayes Pandora station. It’s only recently I’ve branched out into Afrobeat, but even that song shuffle has overlapped with some jazz artists I found through Yussef. The repository I now have has, oddly enough, been instrumental in my writing. Times where I was searching for word, a few songs have helped me find them. I wrote my first and only longer form 9k-word story to a single track I discovered on that Pandora station. The push can be that powerful. I’ll let you in on two songs in my writing toolbox:

Avishai Cohen - “Emotional Storm”

Kait Dunton - “Real & Imagined”

I can put these tracks on repeat and just go. It’s amazing to think that one song could twist my world like a funhouse, open up my musical tastes, and help my writing flourish.

What songs drive your writing?

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1. I have a podcast called Substack Talk with Diane Hatz of Whole Health and we chatted with Samantha Demers, a creator helping people overcome imposter syndrome on March 21st. You’ll find that audio over at Diane’s Substack. I was nervous, but I did it! Positive praise, please. I’m sensitive.

2. I swear, I am not being paid by Pandora, but gosh darnit do I love their stations.

3. You can now subscribe to The FLARE through my Twitter page!

4. Liven up your inbox with The Sample, where you get a variety of newsletters catered to your taste. Daily.