Music and place are linked as well. Stuck at home for the long, claustrophobic months of 2020, I thought about destinations I would travel to. Sheltering in place, music was able to take me on those journeys in my imagination, providing a kind of freedom. I could put on Anthem of the Sun (Warner/Rhino RR1 1749), and I’m right back with my Grateful Dead homies in the hills of Berkeley. Or I might spin the excellent recent vinyl remastering of Hoodoo Man Blues (Analogue Productions AAPB-034-45). Junior Wells is no longer with us, and I’ve never spent time in Chicago, but I know what being there feels like from this record, and I want to go.
During the Year of Living COVID Dangerously, I have tried to remain productive by composing some new music. This meant returning in my mind’s eye and ears to places I love, like California’s Sierra Nevada mountains. I have called a movement of a new composition “Sonora Pass.” That area, which I first visited in high school, means as much to me as any place on earth. I remember the rhythm of walking there and can visualize favorite spots. There’s a music that goes with that. That’s what I want to hear.
This story is from the February 2021 edition of Stereophile.
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This story is from the February 2021 edition of Stereophile.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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