Rarely does an artist arrive on the scene fully formed and totally original. If you saw the halftime show at Superbowl XLI, you saw Prince perform an extraordinary stage show. But did you pick up all the influences and inspiration from Jimi Hendrix, James Brown, and others?

     He builds on the shoulders of those past masters, and has created an exquisite new synthesis. By the way, if you were watching, did you also catch this year’s “nipple” moment? At one point, a giant curtain went up, and Prince’s huge shadow was projected on it.

     All his athletic moves and gyrations were exaggerated. And then, at one point he froze in a well-rehearsed pose, with his devil’s tail-shaped guitar sticking out from his groin. My immediate reaction was, “Omigosh, did he just do what I think he just did?”

     I knew the answer was yes, and wondered how long it would take for the cultural blowback to besiege the FCC with complaints. I began writing this commentary right after the halftime show, but couldn’t break the national inertia to share my thoughts with the blogosphere.

     Turns out very few complaints were registered, which surprised me, given the outcry following Janet Jackson’s wardrobe malfunction. Within two days, however, Prince’s performance was getting rave reviews (which it deserved) and some sniggering comments about the obvious phallic and masturbatory nature of this particular solo.

     Of course, most any guitar player, as well as most teenage boys, are well aware of the sexual symbolism of the guitar. But I find it equally significant that what has been conspicuously missing from most commentaries, other than Keith Olbermann’s MSNBC show, was the additional layer of devilish iconography.

     As of this writing, there are still shots and video available on the web. See it for yourself on YouTube, Yahoo, Universal Music Group, or elsewhere. Knowing how powerful visual symbolism is, I think cultural anthropologists, psychologists and sociologists will be considering this for some time to come. (After I had written my initial comments, I was delighted to see that Jake Coyle, Associated Press Entertainment Writer, had indeed picked up on the phenomenon, and his column is being picked up around the country. Stay tuned to see how this plays out.)

     While I’m at it, here’s another question one of you may be able to answer: How could all those musicians be playing in the rain and not be electrocuted? Back in the day, when I used to play live concerts with a band, we were always getting shocked, even on dry days.

Impressionism in Art and Music

     Along somewhat similar lines, I recall musing about my own evolution as a musician in my newsletter, after attending the final concert by Alice Coltrane late last year. None of us knew it then, perhaps not even herself, but on January 12, she made an unexpected transition. It made that concert experience all the more personally meaningful.

     Seeing and hearing her live for the first and only time, I remembered how my life changed when I was introduced to John Coltrane’s masterpiece, “A Love Supreme.” Listening to the music and reading the liner notes totally transformed my appreciation for the power of music as a spiritual force.

     At that time, McCoy Tyner was John’s pianist, shortly thereafter giving way to Alice after she hooked up with John as soulmates. Part of what made their playing so different from traditional jazz was that his chord voicings were built on intervals of fourths, rather than thirds (think the common C major triad).

     This gave the music an incredible power and forward propulsion, and also opened up the melodic and harmonic opportunities enormously. All of my musician friends were in awe of this new polyquartal harmony.

     As it so happened, I was sitting in on a master class taught by jazz legend Ron Carter as part of the seminal Black Studies program at the University of Buffalo. (Being the best trumpet player in town had its perks!)

     In addition to the class, we were allowed a private lesson with one of the faculty. I was assigned Joe Chambers, who was best known as a jazz drummer. I went in and said, “I want to be able to play like Alice and McCoy.”

     And he said, “Then you have to understand where they went to get their inspiration. Study the music of Alexander Scriabin, the mystical Russian composer in the early days of the 20th century.”

     Then he showed me how to play a few of the phrases that I had heard on the records. Suddenly, it was as if a veil had been lifted. I instantly understood where they were coming from, and could play the notes myself.

     If you’re familiar with any of the Coltrane discography, you know that most of it is very high energy. That was the kind of music I was into, primarily as a trumpet player. But the piano was calling me, getting more insistent. I needed to play chords and melody, rather than the single notes I could play on the horn.

     In the context of a full band, with drums and bass and lead instrument, the interspatial harmonics, the space between the notes, was never allowed to come to the fore.

     None of us concepted a reversal of field, i.e., bringing the background to the foreground. On the inner planes, that’s what I started hearing. And in one magical meditation in a sacred redwood grove near Santa Cruz, California, in late 1969, it all came together for me.

     Playing music from that place of peace created a peaceful state of mind for me, and for those who heard this music. I understood from the start that it was a state-related experience, that was much more than just the sum of its parts.

     In my musical studies, I never took “traditional” piano lessons. I never played the music of Mozart, Bach, Beethoven, Chopin or Liszt from the printed page. Neither did I listen to their music, other than hearing it on the radio or in a concert or two.

     Same for the music of Ravel or Debussy, though I was intrigued by their essays. I was also rather unschooled in the whole tradition of the French Impressionist painters, until I had an experience standing in front of a painting by Monet a few years ago, in which the still life became alive. I saw the morning mist rising over the River Seine; I saw the tree leaves shimmering in the hazy sunlight.

     Much to my surprise, as I adjusted my distance from the masterpiece, at the Bellagio gallery in Las Vegas, of all places, I had a peak performance, and artistic deja vu. I filed this away in my memory banks, and didn’t think that much about it until I was in the studio this past July, scheduled to record a new solo piano album. Without warning, I suddenly found myself smack dab in an Impressionistic moment.

     The quality of the late afternoon sunlight seemed to take on an otherworldly luminescence. More than that, the sound of the piano became orchestral, so rich in harmonics and detail. I felt an electric spark go through me, and it was literally impossible to take my hands off the keys.

     Indeed, it felt as if my fingers were being moved across the keyboard by an unseen force. The music had a life of its own. I felt like I was being played by the music, rather than the other way around.

     As my arms danced in the air, arranging themselves in ways I had never done before, I was able to paint musical phrases, much as a Chinese calligrapher does with his brush stroke.

     I felt Monet and Ravel smiling down on me. It was a magic moment of connection, of communion, and of attunement, with a flow that has been flowing for many years.

     For almost two hours, the music continued to unfold. I would love for you to experience it for yourself, and am happy to let you know that my latest release, Peace of Mind captures the magic of these moments. It was recorded with super-audio 96K, 24-bit software, so the sound is totally awesome. Listen with headphones, and let me know what you think. Samples are also available on my website, www.stevenhalpern.com.

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© 2007 by Steven Halpern. Steven Halpern is an award-winning composer, recording artist and author whose music has touched the lives of millions worldwide. He’s a pioneering sound healer who has helped bring the field into the mainstream. A long-time student of esoteric mysteries and leading edge energy medicine, his latest releases are Initiation: Inside the Great Pyramid and Tonal Alchemy. To hear samples, visit www.stevenhalpern.com.

Unknown to many of his fans, Steven had a successful earlier career as a trumpet player/jazz-rock fusion guitarist. Anyone with a video clip or bootleg recording of his bands, please contact him immediately—you will be rewarded with free CDs!

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