Georgia on my mind.

With another high profile death dominating the news last week, I felt that one celebrity didn't get his due. Being a musician I, of course, take musical performance very seriously. Consequently, I have a handful of musical experiences that I consider... landmark, for lack of a better word. One of those was seeing B.B. King play, one was seeing Edward Van Halen, one was George Harrison and Paul Simon's set of duets on Saturday Night Live... you get the idea. One of them, was one that I wish I could have memorized note for note forever. Several duets on TV, featuring Stevie Wonder and Mr. Ray Charles. Jaw dropping stuff, in my eyes anyway. Ray Charles was... a national treasure.

Not a classicly gifted singer, but still his voice was without flaw. He tackled blues, jazz, gospel, and R&B with equal virtuosity. And as a piano player, well I already used the term jaw dropping. The fact that he was a blind pianist didn't impress me so much. Good players do tend to learn their way around the instrument without looking at it. But the fact that that he did not let his blindness hamper his value as an entertainer is paramount. His website has several real audio samples, as well as a Flash presentation built around his performance of "America The Beautiful". It saddens me that he's not around anymore. He made the world a happier place to be in. At least for me.
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And that's enough for now.

Brian Norwood

Platypi Design