Music Is Tucked Into Kitchen Corners

Music is truly in my bones. All through high school, I and those close to me thought I was going to be a singer. I used to write the lyrics from every song I liked, memorized them, and sang them nonstop, even during dinner in my high school dinning hall. My mother went out one day and bought a turntable and LPs of Nigerian songs for us. You have to understand how HUGE this was for me. My mother went out and bought the turntable herself! After she passed away, music died as well, at least Nigerian music, which proved too painful to listen to.

Elsewhere I indicated that I like to cook while listening to and singing to music. This Christmas, I am serenading myself with a four-pack Christmas CD of musical Who's Who? You have to imagine the variations in voices, nuances, lilts, and ranges. I never knew that Jessica Simpson is so gifted. Her rendition of "O Holy Night" shows an amazing range and mastery.

It is so uplifting to hear all these interpretations and renditions: Alicia Keys, Destiny's Child, Sarah McLachlan, Jessica Simpson, Aretha Franklin, Cyndi Lauper, Tony Bennett, Liz Phair, Rachael Yamagata, Wham! Pete Droge, Martina McBride, Stevie Wonder, Mindi Abair, James Brown, Billie Holiday, Marvin Gaye (two different songs), Ella Fritzgerald (two different songs) Ashanti, Dean Martin, Diana Krall, Guster, Barenaked Ladies (two different songs), Melissa Etheridge, Sting, Elton john, Shania Twain, Aaron Neville, Michael McDonald, Diana Ross and the Supremes, B.B. King, Ringo Starr, Brian McKnight, Louis Armstrong, Bing Crosby, Sugar Ray, Jewel, Remy Zero, Bryan Adams, Vanessa Willliams and Bobby Caldwell, The Thorns, Everything But the Girl, Tori Adams, The Waitresses, and Trick Pony.

My very unobtrusive CD player tucked in a kitchen corner with two speakers

 

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