An artist platform with exclusive content

Remembering Didier Lockwood. Monsieur Lockwood did an article with us in 2014, and it didn't take many moments into our talk with him before we realized that we had set up way too little time for the article. A man of great depths! The article became a flicker of something, as we faced the fact that we had in fact missed an opportunity to dive deeper. But the subtext speaks volumes. We always intended on getting back to him, and we especially wanted for someone to do an artist-to-artist interview with him to really get in there, into the conversation on the inside of music. Sadly this never happened, and it is without a doubt one of our biggest regrets here on Musicians' Corner.

A quartet that blows our minds: Didier Lockwood, Mike Stern, Tom Kennedy, Dave Weckl

---

Didier Lockwood, 11 February 1956 – 18 February 2018

 

 

 

 

 

   We are getting close to our first birthday here at Musicians’ Corner. This site, where musicians talk and write about music, opened at the turn of the month October-November last year. At that point the site was empty. But now… In less than a year 44 artists have contributed 47 articles in text, audio and film to the site, Musicians’ Corner has acquired a formidable artist-editor in one of our sections, and shortly we are about to give an award out. It has been an interesting year!

  So many things have been said about music, as an art form, a soundtrack to our lives, a life changer, a profession and career, as a reflection of us as people and a reflection of the times, and as an industry and a business, over this period of time. Many of our contributors have also addressed the same things, the changes in the business being one of the topics that many have spoken of, for example.

 

 

  Today though we recap what has been said on another topic.

What is music to us?

What IS music? In the first place?

 

Find out what 13 of our artist contributors express concerning what music is to them.

 

 

 

BRYAN BELLER: - Music, to me is a sound. To be sure, there is melody, and harmony, and rhythm, and tone, but in the end a collection of musicians will have a collective sound, or what some have called "one note."

 

 

TK BLUE: - Music is spiritual nourishment for the soul. It’s a sacred art that brings all people together, regardless of race, religion, color, sex, or ethnic background.

 

KRIS BOWERS: - Music is everything. It’s how we connect, both to each other and to our own emotions. Music reminds you of certain times and gives you a feeling instantly.

 

 

BEN CAPLAN: - Music to me is like water. It sustains me. I need to sip from it every so often or I feel faint. I need to bath in it to keep my soul clean. It flows over me. It does not flow out of me like a constant river, but if I drink enough of it, it comes back out. I sweat it out. I piss music. It often stinks, and I flush most of it away, but it's always a relief to get it out.

 

 

WILL CALHOUN: - Music is life. It is the things you experience. Life, love, stress, magic moments, moments that go down the drain. It’s no different than life.  I hear music when I’m not playing. I feel life when I play.  Music and spirituality came together in my life. Perhaps I wasn’t aware of the music at first.

 

 

LIGE CURRY: - Music is everything to me. My priorities are my health and my family, but music is my anchor. It keeps me rolling. It’s also a love/hate-thing. The love is the notes, the style, the art. The hate stems from the business side. It’s about how much you are worth.

 

TERENCE HIGGINS: - Music is everything to me. It consumes a lot of my time, I need it like I need air. There is not a day that goes by when I’m not involved in music one way or the other, be it as a working professional or as a listener. It’s life to me. And it has been like that every since I can remember.

 

 

DIDIER LOCKWOOD: - Music is a way of life. It's something I need to expand myself and meet people and cultures. It's my transportation.

 

MAKAYA McCRAVEN: - To me music embodies a wide range of areas. To me music is a social thing. It is a language, and I really believe in music as a language through events. It’s unspeakable emotion that we have a hard time describing in words. That is especially true for instrumental music. We can play music together across language barriers. Music is played at weddings, funerals, celebrations, parties -- to express what we can’t say through words.

 

OZ NOY: - Music is like air really. A lot of us would be dead without it. Our soul will die! It sounds a bit dramatic but it’s true.

 

CHRIS SIMMONS: - Music is a necessary part of life to me, like air and water.  I love to hear it and I love to create it and perform it.

 

MIKE STERN: - On a very serious side music is food for the soul. I don't know what the hell I would do without it. There are times when I don't want to hear anything. At other times I hear music in everything, in the wind, in the traffic, in people talking. And I hear music in how people talk in different places, in India, Japan and throughout the world.

 

LAURA STEVENSON: - Music is the best way for me to communicate exactly how I feel.

 

An article with Didier Lockwood

    Music is a way of life. It's something I need to expand myself and meet people and cultures. It's my transportation.

    I don't think of myself as a musician. I'm more like an artist. To me calling myself a musician feels restrictive.
Music is a game. It's playfulness. The game of music is a game that I love. Seeing music in that light is how I have found the spirituality in music. More and more I think it's a game.

    You cannot lie in music. If you lie you lose yourself.

Didier Lockwood with Biréli Lagrène and Jürgen Attig

    My father was a violin-player, and when I was 6 years old I wanted to play the violin and be like him. He was happy to know that I was happy, but he never said that he was proud of me. He was proud of my success, and felt ashamed by my failures.

    It may be really difficult to be free on the violin. At conservatories we are taught in classical music. We learn to read and write music before we learn to feel it. But I have never been about separating music. Even music that is bad, is bad because it is played badly.

Didier Lockwood with Stéphan Grappelli

    I'm always involved in many projects. Apart from playing with a lot of people in different forms I'm currently writing my 3d violin concert. I paint, and I'm writing a book.

    To me playing music, painting and writing is the same thing. I paint and play. I like philosophy and art, and the philosophy in the arts.

Didier Lockwood with Mike Stern, Tom Kennedy and Dave Weckl

---

Didier Lockwood's versatile career spans five decades so far, as well as a wide range of genres in music. He has recorded numerous albums. and composed concerts and chamber music.

Find out more HERE

An article with Mike Stern. Photo Sandrine Lee

 

   If I could have a conversation with Johann Sebastian Bach I would ask him how he wrote all of that amazing music. He had like twenty kids or something. I would ask his wife ''What the hell is he up to?''. He wrote so much music, got so much done, it's insane.

I want to mention my wife, Leni Stern. She is the love of my life. We don't play concerts together because we prefer to stay married but we play music together all the time. She's a wonderful musician, very inspiring. We have been together for thirty-three years and she is my best friend.

I have about twenty black t-shirts with long sleeves. So when I look in my closet I think to myself ''Hmm, what am I going to wear today?''...

I am happy when I'm playing music. I get energy from other musicians by listening and watching them play. It's a great feeling. Music is a great place to put my energy. It keeps my mind off some of the other stuff in life that might not be so much fun

Maybe I'm just showing my joy in the music on stage a little bit more than others. Most people I know have a great time playing music.

Photo Sandrine Lee

    On a very serious side music is food for the soul. I don't know what the hell I would do without it. There are times when I don't want to hear anything. At other times I hear music in everything, in the wind, in the traffic, in people talking. And I hear music in how people talk in different places, in India, Japan and throughout the world.

Guitarists ask me different stuff. Questions about equipment. Picks and strings. I ask other musicians about that stuff too. They ask how I get certain lines. I tell them that I listen a lot. I transcribe a lot of horn-players for example and try to come up with my own version of their lines, that is, not copy the licks but get the phrasings on the guitar.

I don't know when I knew what my sound was. It was something I heard in my head. I started out singing when I was little. My mom was a piano player, and she realized that I wanted to get into music. My sound is a less percussive sound and more of a legato sound.

The best way to find your own voice to me is to just play. It's a natural flow-process. Staying with certain things is a good idea. Perhaps someone is not the best guitarist in the world but he can still be the perfect guitarist for a specific act. A lot of musicians have their own voices though people don't necessarily hear it. I change what I do by learning new music. Always try to learn new music, it's endless.

It's an honor to have fans. Some people are musicians and maybe understand it more that I play horn lines for example. Of course I like that people are listening to my music and enjoy what they hear but I also like that people are just listening even if they don't like what they hear.

/Mike Stern

Mike Stern with Miles Davis

Mike Stern solo guitar+

Mike Stern with Eric Johnson in 2013

---

Mike Stern's legendary career includes work with Blood, Sweat & Tears, Billy Cobham, Miles Davis, Jaco Pastorius and a very long list of the top players in jazz+. Stern has put countless amazing musical partnerships on stage, released a large number of solo-albums and received six Grammy-nominations to date for his work. In 2014 he plans to release an album-collaboration with Eric Johnson. Find out more HERE.

---